TONY’S TAKE – 2026 STANLEY CUP FINAL PREVIEW
- Tony Fiorello
- Jun 1
- 7 min read
by Tony Fiorello
The 2026 Stanley Cup Final begins on Tuesday night and on paper this year’s edition is shaping up to be a compelling matchup.
The Carolina Hurricanes, a team that has been among the better squads in the National Hockey League over the last eight years, are winners of the Prince of Wales Trophy for the third time in their history. Thanks to series wins over the Ottawa Senators (four games), Philadelphia Flyers (four) and Montreal Canadiens (five), the ‘Canes are trying to win the Stanley Cup for the second time in franchise annals and for the first time in 20 years.
Meanwhile the Clarence Campbell Bowl-winning Vegas Golden Knights are in the Final for the third time in nine years and are aiming to take home the Cup for a second time. They got here by defeating the Utah Mammoth and Anaheim Ducks in six games and upsetting the President’s Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche in a sweep.
It doesn’t get much better than this. Here’s the scoop on each team going into Game One:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Carolina Hurricanes (53-22-7, 113 points)
The ‘Canes are paced by the usual suspects up front (Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis and Jordan Staal) along with newcomer Nikolaj Ehlers and Shayne Gostisbehere averaged nearly a point per game from the blue line (Jaccob Slavin, the team’s best defender, had an injury-marred regular season but has been his usual outstanding self in the playoffs). Goaltenders Frederik Andersen and Brandon Bussi split starting duties during the regular season but Andersen has reclaimed the job in the postseason with some stellar performances in net.
Carolina was second in in goals scored and tied for fifth in goals allowed – superior to Vegas in both areas. The Hurricanes were very good in the special teams department as well – fourth and 11th on the power play and penalty kill are nothing to sneeze at.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Vegas Golden Knights (39-26-17, 95 points)
The firing of Cup-winning coach Bruce Cassidy in exchange for veteran John Tortorella has lit a fire underneath the Golden Knights, as they rallied to win their division after slumping late in the season (“Torts” is one of just three coaches to reach the Final after taking over as coach with 10 games or less to go in the regular season, along with Roger Neilson in 1982 with Vancouver – five – and Larry Robinson in 2000 with New Jersey – eight). Backed by excellent talent in Mitch Marner, Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Ivan Barbashev, Pavel Dorofeyev, Shea Theodore, Tomas Hertl, Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson, Vegas is typically in the thick of things as a contender year in and year out.
Middle of the pack in goals scored and allowed (14th and 12th, respectively) general manager Kelly McCrimmon and president of hockey operations George McPhee’s squad also has special teams units that are ranked in the league’s top-10 (sixth and seventh on the power play and penalty kill). Carter Hart, Akira Schmid and Adin Hill all got playing time in goal in the regular season but Hart has been Tortorella’s choice as the man between the pipes since the playoffs began and has responded with an inspired run.
STATS AND MUSINGS
· Four ex-Buffalo Sabres are on the Hurricanes’ roster this year (Taylor Hall, William Carrier, Eric Robinson and Nic Deslauriers) while Vegas has Jack Eichel and Brayden McNabb.
· According to Sportsnet Stats, the Hurricanes were the fourth team ever to have 10 or more days off between playoff games and played just eight games in 36 days between their regular season finale on April 14 and Game One of the Conference Final on May 21. None of the prior three squads won their next series, but Carolina did.
· Since their move to Raleigh, Carolina has defeated Montreal three times in each of their runs to the Stanley Cup Final.
· Vegas is the last Western Conference team to win the Cup.
· Carolina surrendered just 10 total goals in their four-game sweeps of Ottawa and Philadelphia, and gave up only 11 goals in five games against Montreal – an average of just 2.2 goals-per-game. Their 21 goals given up are tied for the fewest for a team to reach the Final with each round being a best-of-seven since the 2002-03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
· According to Frank Seravalli, Frederick Andersen has a chance to set a record for fewest goals allowed by a Stanley Cup-winning goaltender in the modern era. He’s given up 20 goals in 13 games – the record is held by Jonathan Quick in 2012 with the Los Angeles Kings.
· It’s not just goals either – the Hurricanes have allowed just 22.3 shots-per-game, the third-fewest ever by a team going into a Final since the stat was first tracked in 1959-60. Only the 2000-01 New Jersey Devils (20.1) and the 1994-95 Detroit Red Wings (20.6) gave up less.
· The Hurricanes have become the 24th team all-time to win eight or more straight games in one playoff run – 18 of those 24 have won the Cup. They’ve also become the fifth team all-time to start a postseason 8-0 (along with the 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers, 1968-69 St. Louis Blues, 1959-60 Canadiens and 1951-52 Detroit Red Wings) and they’re also the first to sweep their first two series since every round became a best-of-seven in 1987.
· Carolina became the first team ever to reach the Final with just one loss in their first three playoff rounds (and each being a best-of-seven format – the last team to get there with one loss was the 1982-83 Edmonton Oilers). The previous record was held by the 2011-12 Los Angeles Kings and the 1987-88 Oilers (two).
· 2026 will be the 46th consecutive season in which a teammate of future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr will play in the Final – Andersson and Mark Jankowski of Carolina each spent time with Jagr in Calgary during the 2017-18 season.
· Vegas’ sweep of Colorado was the first time since the 2003 matchup between Anaheim and Minnesota that a conference final ended in four games on ESPN’s networks.
· Both Jordan and Eric Staal can become the 17th set of brothers all-time to win the Cup with the same team and only the sixth to do so in the expansion era. The last time it happened was when Scott and Rob Niedermayer won the Cup with Anaheim in 2007.
· According to Sportsnet Stats, the Hurricanes’ 89 shots on goal allowed against Montreal were the fewest in league history for a series that lasted five games.
· Slavin, Hanafin and Eichel are trying to become the first American since Ken Morrow in 1980 to win both an Olympic gold medal and a Stanley Cup in the same year. Five Canadian-born players have accomplished the feat – Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan in 2002, Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews in 2010 and Drew Doughty in 2014.
· Just five teams have won the Cup since 2000 after making an in-season coaching change – the 2019 St. Louis Blues (Craig Berube for Mike Yeo), 2016 Pittsburgh Penguins (Mike Sullivan for Mike Johnston), 2012 Los Angeles Kings (Darryl Sutter for Terry Murray), 2009 Penguins (Dan Bylsma for Michel Therrien) and the 2000 Devils (Robinson for Robbie Ftorek). Tortorella will attempt to be the sixth.
· Speaking of “Torts”, he has become the only coach ever to steer two different teams to sweeps over the eventual President’s Trophy winner – this season with Vegas over Colorado and in 2019 with Columbus over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Additionally, the last two times the Avs won the award for the best regular season record they were eliminated by Vegas (in this year’s conference final and in the second round in 2021).
· Carolina lost Game One to Montreal 6-2 but never trailed again the rest of the series. According to OptaSTATS, they’re the first team ever to lose Game One of a best-of-seven series by four goals or more and then win the next four games without ever trailing.
· It is also the 11th consecutive year an Original Six team won’t win the Cup. According to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press, the previous such drought lasted six years (1980-85, 1987-92).
· Vegas has become the first Stanley Cup finalist with less than 40 wins in a season with 80 games or more since the 2001-02 Carolina Hurricanes. Their 95 points also wouldn’t have been enough to make the postseason if they were based in the Eastern Conference.
· Carolina had 14 more wins than Vegas – the largest win differential between Cup Finalists since Detroit had 16 more wins than Carolina in 2001-02.
· 11 players on Vegas’ roster were also on their 2022-23 Cup-winning team.
PREDICTION
Golden Knights in six. While the Hurricanes performed much better in the regular season, Vegas has proven to be a team that underachieved and finally found their groove once the postseason began. On paper, they have a deeper and more talented roster than any of the squads that Carolina faced during the playoffs and will be a much tougher animal to deal with.