Bonkers playoff stat shows Hurricanes deserved Stanley Cup

The Carolina Hurricanes claimed their second Stanley Cup championship in franchise history on Sunday, completing a relentless march through the playoffs with a 3-0 win in Game 6 over the Vegas Golden Knights. The win came 20 years after their first championship in 2006 and hammered home a 16-3 postseason record across 19 games.

Carolina’s 16 wins tied the 16-game minimum needed to win the Stanley Cup, with only three losses recorded throughout the playoffs. That mark placed them just behind the 1988 Edmonton Oilers, who finished 16-2, and ahead of five other teams that also lost only four games en route to championships, most recently the 2022 Colorado Avalanche.

The Hurricanes opened their run with sweeps over the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers. In the Eastern Conference Final, the Montreal Canadiens won Game 1, but Carolina responded by taking four straight games. Against Vegas in the final, the Hurricanes dropped two of six games but closed the series strongly to secure the Cup.

In Game 6, Brandon Bussi stopped all 22 shots for his first career playoff shutout. Taylor Hall scored first at 3:47 of the opening period, and Jackson Blake added another goal to make it 2-0. Nikolaj Ehlers put the game away with an empty-net goal late, making it 3-0. Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart made 20 saves, while Jack Eichel hit the crossbar on a power-play chance. Vegas went 18:37 between shots on goal during the second and third periods and was shut out for the first time in a Cup Final.

Blake finished the playoffs with a team-high 20 points (7 goals, 13 assists), while Hall recorded 19 points (7 goals, 12 assists). Logan Stankoven led the team with 11 goals and ranked fourth with 16 points. Jordan Staal earned the Conn Smythe Trophy after scoring eight goals and 12 points in 19 games, including goals in five consecutive Cup Final games and six in the final series. At 37, Staal became the oldest Conn Smythe winner and the first player to go 17 years between Stanley Cup championships, also having won in 2009 with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Carolina allowed 39 goals while scoring 66 in the postseason, while the Golden Knights led all playoff teams with 76 goals scored but also allowed 62. Frederik Andersen won his first 13 starts before Brandon Bussi closed with three straight wins, including the clincher.

The Hurricanes also outscored Vegas 12-5 over Games 4-6. Coach Rod Brind’Amour, who captained Carolina’s 2006 title team, added another championship as coach, becoming one of the few in NHL history to win the Cup with the same franchise as both player and coach.

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