LAS VEGAS — The Vegas Golden Knights dominated the second period of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
And the Carolina Hurricanes are attempting to stage an unreal comeback to avoid falling behind 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
Vegas led 4-0 after two periods, but Carolina scored three times in 39 seconds in the third period to make the score 4-3 with about 12 minutes remaining.
The Hurricanes pulled starting goaltender Frederik Andersen for the third period. Brandon Bussi, a regular-season hero for the Hurricanes, got his first action of the entire postseason. Bussi stopped Vegas star Mitch Marner on a penalty shot, and the Hurricanes responded with three goals.
Jordan Martinook had the Hurricanes first goal at the 7:02 mark of the third period. Taylor Hall, off a pass from Sebastian Aho, had Carolina’s second goal at 7:29. And Jordan Staal capped the barrage with a tip-in goal at the 7:42 mark.
In each of the first two games, the winning team trailed by multiple goals.
The Hurricanes successfully challenged two Vegas goals in the first four minutes of the second period — or else it could have been even worse. The disallowed goals did little to stop the Vegas onslaught.
The Golden Knights responded with two goals in 14 seconds later in the period and then added a third off some individual brilliance from Mitch Marner.
The first good goal came on a power play after Carolina was called for too many men on the ice. Jack Eichel found Tomas Hertl, who had the game winner in Game 1, alone in front of the net.
Just moments later, Marner fired a backhander toward the net that Carolina defenseman Sean Walker attempted to play. Instead, it went off Walker’s stick and into the net with 9:18 remaining in the second period.
Less than four minutes later, Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen stopped Marner on a breakaway. The Hurricanes, however, were unable to clear the zone and the puck found its way back to Marner, the biggest free agent acquisition in the league in the offseason, who wouldn’t be denied by Andersen a second time.
With 3:09 left in the period, Marner blasted a slap shot past Andersen for his third goal of the evening. Fans tossed hats onto the ice for the hat trick, about the only things that could delay the Vegas rush.
Early in the period, it was Carolina challenges that kept Vegas off the board. A Mark Stone goal was disallowed for a clear offside that preceded the goal. Minutes later, a goal by Jack Eichel was taken away for goalie interference. Ivan Barbashev hit Andersen in the head as he tried to cross the crease.
For a moment, it looked as if the officials might be on their way to being the biggest storyline in the series. Late in Game 2, Vegas unsuccessfully challenged a no-goal call, leading to a power play on which Carolina scored. Vegas coach John Tortorella said later he would challenge that call 10 times out of 10.
Brind’Amour said after Game 2 that his standard is absolute certainty on challenging goal-or-no-goal calls on the ice.
“When it’s called goal or no goal on the ice, it better be 100% your challenge,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s a rule we go by.”
There were a combined 16 goals in the first two games of the series. But the first period of Game 3 was a much more tightly played period with the teams combining for 25 hits — 16 by Vegas.
In Game 2, Carolina became the first team since 1944 to win a Stanley Cup Final game after trailing by two goals with 10 minutes left in the third period. It’ll take another heroic effort in Game 3.
The Hurricanes entered the game 6-0 on the road in the playoffs.
Pregame preview
The Hurricanes are undefeated on the road in the postseason. But they know they haven’t seen an atmosphere quite like the one that awaited in Game 3, where the Golden Knights put on quite a pregame show inside T-Mobile Arena.
What else would you expect in Las Vegas?
“It’s such a fun place to play. They’ve got such a great atmosphere and great vibe,” Carolina captain Jordan Staal said before Saturday’s Game 3. “It‘s just such a different challenge, obviously, than being at home. But being on the road and given a chance to try to quiet 20,000 people is such a fun challenge.”
The best-of-seven series is tied at 1 after Carolina’s historic 4-3 overtime victory in Thursday’s Game 2 at Lenovo Center and Canes fans, many of them shirtless during the third period. Carolina became the first team since 1944 to win a Cup game in which it trailed by two goals with 10 minutes left.
Through two games, each team has scored eight goals, each has staged a comeback from two goals down and each has won a game decided late. Vegas’ 5-4 win in Game 1 attracted 4.78 million viewers.
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas promises to be as electric as Lenovo Center was for Games 1 and 2. It costs more than $500 for a single ticket in the upper deck.
“I don’t think we really care, to be honest, where we play,” Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen said. “We are focused on our foundation in our game, and that’s really what sets us up for success.”
Through eight years of playoff runs, the Rod Brind’Amour-era Carolina Hurricanes have learned some lessons, many the hard way.
That schooling has helped.
“We’ve been through a lot of it, and I think we understand the game really doesn’t change,” Brind’Amour said. “It shouldn’t change just because you’re changing venues. I think we understand that.”
The Hurricanes scored two power play goals late in the Game 3 victory, one from Staal on a deflection in front of the net and the other from Seth Jarvis on a slap shot in overtime.
Carolina had been two for its last 24 on the power play and 8-for-60 overall in the playoffs.
Vegas defenseman Brayden McNab, who left Game 2 after being hit in the face by a Nikolaj Ehlers shot in the first period and didn’t return, is in the lineup for the Golden Knights.
