2026 NHL Stanley Cup Final: 5 Takeaways From Hurricanes-Golden Knights Game 3
We are three games into the 2026 Stanley Cup Final, and we're already preparing to call it one of the all-time greatest.
The Golden Knights took a back-and-forth, high-scoring Game 1. The Hurricanes stole Game 2, rallying from a 0-2 deficit with 10 minutes left for a 4-3 overtime win.
Game 3? Whew, it somehow blew those first two out of the water with historic period after historic period in an eventual 5-4 Golden Knights win in double overtime.
The first period was quiet as Vegas put just two shots on net, but the Golden Knights would explode for a four-goal second. Mitch Marner updated his Conn Smythe resume with a hat trick and an assist in the second period alone. In the third, the Hurricanes rallied from 0-4 with three goals in 39 seconds and a late power-play goal to take it into overtime for the second consecutive game. Ultimately, the game became the third-ever double overtime game in Stanley Cup Final history, because of course it did.
The Hurricanes almost became the first team in Stanley Cup Final history (1-108) to come back from a 0-4 deficit, but Golden Knights OG Shea Theodore came up with the double overtime dagger.
The Golden Knights took a 2-1 series lead as the series shifted to their home ice. Sure, it took double overtime, but their resolve during one of the wackiest Stanley Cup Final games in hockey history will be remembered forever.
Before we can even think about Game 4, let's fully process all that happened in Vegas tonight.
Crazy Bounce Wins Game 3 for Vegas
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The overtime dagger was a bit of a Hurricanes own goal, as the puck bounced off Jordan Martinook behind the net and bounced past Brandon Bussi's foot.
These things just happen in double overtime, especially for a Hurricanes defense that was particularly leaky Saturday. Carolina was caught flat-footed in the second period, surrendering four goals and a normally tight defensive unit has looked shaky in the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final.
Theodore ended up with credit for the goal that came 5:38 into double overtime. If you're going to win the Stanley Cup, you need some of these bounces. Call it right place at the right time, call it luck, or call it "starting the game with a 4-0 lead and giving yourself the wiggle room to make a few mistakes and still end up on top."
We'll go with the latter.
Look Away Leafs Fans ... Mitch Marner, Playoff Performer
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Remember when the brunt of criticism surrounding Mitch Marner was how he and the rest of the Leafs core would "disappear" in Games 6 and 7 of the playoff rounds?
Turns out he found a solution to that issue in his first year out West: Simply win the series before you even have to play those games. That sure worked, as he had a gigantic hand in sweeping the best regular-season team in the WCF.
Now, the leading scorer of the Stanley Cup Playoffs has somehow taken his game to an even higher level on the biggest stage. In Game 3, Marner had a hat trick and four points in the second period alone. The four points in one period were the most of any player in the Cup Final since 1919. The hat trick took just six minutes and 10 seconds, becoming the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup Final history.
Marner leads the entire postseason in scoring and just keeps getting better. If the Golden Knights manage to pull this thing off -- and maybe even if they don't -- Marner is earning his way into a Conn Smythe. What a story that would be for the kid from Ontario and his complicated journey to potential glory with the Golden Knights.
Brandon Bussi Makes Case for Game 4 Start
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Bussi's first postseason appearance after not seeing the ice for two months didn't end up with a win on the scoresheet, but he deserves all the credit for the surge he provided the team under the circumstances.
The Hurricanes were down 4-0 heading into the third and made the decision to swap Freddie Anderson for Bussi. Bussi stopped all nine Golden Knights shots he faced in regulation -- including a Marner penalty shot attempt and a few other Grade As -- as the Canes went on their four-goal comeback in the period.
His role was essential in the third period, and he held on just as strong in the first overtime. His ability to jump into one of the craziest Stanley Cup Finals ever and lead his team to a four-goal comeback in one period and an opportunity to win in overtime was beyond impressive. The double overtime dagger can't be blamed on Bussi, who was the casualty of friendly fire and a bad bounce after an otherwise solid double overtime performance.
Even though the team couldn't complete the comeback, Bussi's performance makes you wonder if the Hurricanes have a goalie controversy on their hands headed into Game 4.
Goal Review Calls All Go Carolina's Way
4 of 5In Game 2, we saw a bad coach's challenge by Vegas lead to a Hurricanes power-play goal in a game the Canes eventually stole.
In Game 3, we saw two goals overturned on Hurricanes coaches' challenges for offside and interference, in a game the Golden Knights eventually won.
The difference? Vegas was challenging a goal that was ruled a non-goal on the ice.
After Game 2, Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said the Hurricanes rarely, if ever, challenge non-goal rulings, unless they are "100 percent" sure.
It's safer to challenge goals ruled as goals on the ice because there's more of a chance the officials missed something, and they're more likely to walk back a goal than add one on.
It's just the way it is. The Golden Knights could've challenged in a similar situation late in regulation in Game 3, and it appeared they learned their lesson. Staying away from what cost them Game 2 likely contributed to their Game 3 win.
This Series Has Seen Wild Comebacks
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We're being treated to history in every period of this Stanley Cup Final, folks.
We got the fastest (6:10) hat trick in Cup Final history via Marner in the second (and an assist to boot). We got the three fastest goals scored by the same team in Stanley Cup history with Carolina's three in 39 seconds in the third. We got an Andrei Svechnikov equalizer to lead the Canes into overtime with less than two minutes left.
We almost got the first team in Stanley Cup Final history to complete a four-goal comeback, but there's a reason that stat grew to 0-109 tonight: That's really freaking hard to do, and you have to show up and make something count in the first two periods of a Cup Final game.
The swings have been insane. Game 3 was the first game in NHL history to go from 0-0 to 4-0 in a span of 12 minutes or less and then go from 4-0 to 4-4 in a span of 12 minutes or less in the third.
Alas, the Golden Knights pulled off the win in the third-ever double overtime in Cup Final history. The Hurricanes didn't quite have the juice to win two consecutive multi-goal comeback efforts in overtime. The rest of us are content to sit on our sofas and witness history here.
You cannot miss a shift of this Stanley Cup Final, or you quite literally might miss three goals and two lead changes.
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