Hurricanes take commanding 3-2 series lead after Game 5 win over Golden Knights

Chip Alexander and Justin Pelletier, The News & Observer (Raleigh) on Jun 11, 2026

Published in Hockey

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RALEIGH, N.C. — It wasn’t Game 7, but it almost felt like it.

The Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights went at it Thursday in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, and it was 60 minutes of hard checks and fights for pucks and a bruising battle to find open ice and any kind of scoring chance.

The Canes emerged with 4-2 victory after a game of big-boy hockey at the Lenovo Center, grabbing a 3-2 lead in the series and leaving them on the brink of the franchise’s second Stanley Cup.

The Canes go back to Las Vegas for Game 6 on Saturday. The Cup will be in T-Mobile Arena. Only the Canes can win it that night.

Neither team had won two straight games in a Cup Final filled with funky plays and blown leads and unpredictable and sudden momentum swings.

And, in the Canes’ case, a goalie change.

Brandon Bussi quickly became a fast trending story after relieving Frederik Anderson in the third period of Game 3, winning Game 4 in the rookie’s first career playoff start and then starting again Thursday.

Vegas scored on their first shot of the game as Pavel Dorofeyev, who had two goals in the game, converted on a power play, his first goal in the Cup Final.

But Canes captain Jordan Staal scored, again, and again historically.

Andrei Svechnikov had two power-play goals.

And Sebastian Aho, who has been more of a playmaker than goal-scorer in the playoffs, went top shelf after a Sean Walker pass for a 3-1 lead in the second period.

Staal has six goals in the Stanley Cup Final and became the first player to score in five straight games to start a Cup Final since Jean Beliveau in 1956. The other two: Maurice Richard (1951) and Cyclone Taylor (1918).

Staal’s sprawling backhander while flat on the ice was the winning goal in Game 4 — not the most nimble of shots but in the net. He scored on a redirect of an Ehlers shot for a 1-1 tie Thursday and other good looks as he powered his way around the crease.

The Canes continued to surge on the power play. Svechnikov saw to that, tying the score in the second period with a blast and adding his second in the third period for a 4-1 lead.

Vegas captain Mark Stone was called for a double-minor high-sticking penalty in the third after getting his stick under the shield of defenseman Jalen Chatfield and almost jerking off his helmet.

The Canes, after struggling though the playoffs, have power-play goals in four straight games.

The Canes’ third delay-of-game penalty, for flipping the puck over the glass, resulted in a 6-on-4 power play for Vegas after pulling goalie Carter Hart.

Bussi’s last big stop, with 1:20 left in regulation essentially sealed the win.

The game began after former defenseman Mike Commodore, one of the heroes of the 2006 Cup champions, handled the warning siren. Commodore, in the bathrobe he made famous in ‘06, gave it a hard, determined crank.

The Hurricanes took it from there.

Again, the Cup will be in Las Vegas.