A four-goal lead in what was a wacky, compelling and highly entertaining Stanley Cup Final was almost not enough for the Golden Knights on Saturday night.
A four-goal third-period rally by the Hurricanes nearly made NHL history and sent shockwaves through T-Mobile Arena.
And that game ended in a way perhaps befitting all the craziness, a shot by Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore off the skate of Brandon Bussi — the backup goalie brought into play in the third period after playing for two months — that went into the net at 5:38 of double overtime to give the Golden Knights a 5-4 victory over Carolina.
“I’ve been through a lot of playoff games,” Golden Knights coach John Tortorella said. “I’ve never experienced one like this.”
Almost overlooked was Vegas’ Mitch Marner’s four-point night, who also had the fastest hat trick in Cup Final history.
The Golden Knights took a 2-1 series lead. The teams take two days off before meeting again in Game 4 Tuesday night in Las Vegas. Teams with a 2-1 series lead have won the Cup 46 out of 57 times, or 80.7%.
Carolina was 6-0 in overtime this postseason. The Hurricanes were trying to become the first team to win after trailing by at least four goals in the third period, but now clubs in that situation are 0-109.
“We just took our foot off the gas,” Theodore said on the ABC broadcast. “I think we need to be sharper in the third, but I liked the resiliency of our group. I liked the way we started that second overtime and I felt like we were more on guard.”
It was the 10th time that the first three matches of a Cup final were decided by one point. The last time was in 2016 between Pittsburgh and San Jose.
The Golden Knights seemed to have it in hand after scoring four times in the second half, including a natural hat trick from Marner.
But Jordan Martinook, Taylor Hall and Jordan Staal scored goals for the Hurricanes. Their goals, spaced 39 seconds apart, are the three fastest in a Cup final match.
Andrei Svechnikov blocked the puck on a six-on-four power play with 1:42 left to force overtime.
“I like that we feel like we can come back from anything, but you can’t put yourself in a hole like we did,” Martinook said. “In the second half, for them to come out like that and take total control of the game, that’s something that can’t happen, especially this time.”
Marner’s scoring burst came 6:10 into the second period, and he had four points in the period. He got the secondary assist on Tomas Hertl’s goal midway through the period.
The last time a player had four points in a Cup Final period was in 1919, when Frank Foyston of the Seattle Metropolitans accomplished the feat.
Marner almost added to the total in the third period, but failed to capitalize on a breakaway and a penalty shot. Those missed opportunities came back to bite the Golden Knights.
The Hurricanes mounted a comeback after changing goaltenders to open Game 3, with Bussi making 18 saves. Frederik Andersen allowed these four goals on 16 shots.
Carolina also rallied without forward and former Golden Knight William Carrier, who suffered an upper-body injury in the second period.
Vegas’ Carter Hart stopped 29 shots.
Vegas twice thought it would take the lead at the start of the second period, but the Hurricanes succeeded in defying both objectives to keep the match scoreless.
The Golden Knights received a major boost when defenseman Brayden McNabb took the ice. He took a puck to the face in the first period Thursday night against Carolina and did not return to the game. McNabb, who wore a cage to protect his face, is Vegas’ best defensive defender. He was part of the first defensive pair with Théodore.
