06/02/26 04:24:00
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06/02 16:22 CDT Hurricanes, Golden Knights set to open Stanley Cup Final with
Tuesday's Game 1
Hurricanes, Golden Knights set to open Stanley Cup Final with Tuesday's Game 1
By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) --- The Carolina Hurricanes rolled through the Eastern
Conference playoffs, while the Vegas Golden Knights picked up speed with each
round before pulling off a shocking sweep of the Presidents' Trophy-winning
Colorado Avalanche.
That has brought them to the Stanley Cup Final for Tuesday night's opener, with
the Golden Knights chasing a second championship in four seasons while the
Hurricanes are playing for the Cup for the first time since coach Rod
Brind'Amour captained them to the 2006 title.
The Hurricanes went 12-1 through three rounds to get here, sweeping through
Ottawa and Philadelphia before taking the last four games of a five-game win
against Montreal in the Eastern Conference Final. That made the Hurricanes the
first team since 1983 to reach the Stanley Cup Final with one loss, and the
first since the NHL went to best-of-seven series in all four rounds in 1987.
The Golden Knights --- who surged after a late-season coaching change by firing
Bruce Cassidy to hire John Tortorella --- pushed past Utah and Anaheim in a
pair of six-game series, and have won six straight games entering Tuesday's
Game 1 against Carolina after beating the Avs.
Defense has been the standout feature for both teams. Carolina has allowed two
or fewer goals in 12 of 13 playoff games, including a shutout win in all three
Eastern playoff rounds. Vegas allowed just seven goals in the sweep of the
Avalanche, who led the league in regular-season scoring (3.63 goals per game)
behind high-end skill like Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Martin Necas.
Vegas took both regular-season meetings with Carolina, first with a 4-1 home
win on Oct. 20. Eight days later, Jack Eichel scored twice in the last 4:59 for
a 6-3 win that included Carolina having multiple injuries that had them down to
four defensemen for a significant stretch of the night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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