Stanley Cup playoffs daily: Previews, stats, schedule, bracketESPN staffJun 11, 2026, 07:00 AM ETMultiple Authors
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After tight victories in Game 1, Game 2 and Game 3, Game 4 also came right down to the wire, with the Carolina Hurricanes earning a 5-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in what has become one of the best Stanley Cup Final series this millennium.
With the matchup essentially now down to a best-of-three, Game 5 on Thursday in Raleigh is all the more critical.
How much more critical? Read on for stats and trends courtesy of ESPN Research, as well as updated playoff scoring and goaltending leaders.
Read more:
Full schedule
Playoff Central
Experts’ picks
Stanley Cup odds
Offseason guide for eliminated teams
Thursday’s schedule
Vegas Golden Knights at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 5, 8 p.m. ET (ABC) | Series tied 2-2
When a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final series is tied 2-2, the Game 5 winner has gone on to win the series nearly 75% of the time in history (a 20-7 series record). That includes a 15-3 (.833) record for the home team and a 5-4 (.556) mark for the road team winning Game 5.
The Golden Knights have a 6-2 series record when a best-of-seven series has been tied 2-2, and the Canes have an 8-7 series record in that scenario, including wins in eight of their last nine.
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This is the first time in Stanley Cup Final history that each team has scored three or more goals in each of the first four games.
The teams have combined for 33 goals so far, tied with the 1980 Islanders-Flyers series for the third-highest total through the first four games of a Cup Final. That trails 1981 Islanders-North Stars (36) and 1918 Toronto Arenas (NHL)-Vancouver Millionaires (PCHA) (36).
Vegas’ Mitch Marner leads all scorers this series with eight points (three goals, five assists), and seven of the eight have come at even strength. His 29 points (and counting) this postseason has set a record for a player in his first playoff run with a new team; the previous record was 27 by Frank Mahovlich with the 1971 Canadiens.
Brett Howden’s 14 goals lead all playoff scorers and set a new franchise record for most tallies in a single postseason; Jonathan Marchessault held the previous mark of 13 in 2023.
Jack Eichel’s next assist will tie Craig Janney (19, 1990) for the third most in a single postseason by an American-born player, behind Eichel in 2023 (20) and Brian Leetch in 1994 (23).
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Carolina’s Jordan Staal is the first player with five goals in the first four games of a Stanley Cup Final since Mario Lemieux had five goals in a four-game sweep of the Blackhawks in 1992; prior to Lemieux, the most recent was Wayne Gretzky in 1985 (six goals in the first four of a five-game win over the Flyers).
Brandon Bussi is the third goalie in the expansion era (since 1967-68) to make his first career playoff start in the Stanley Cup Final, joining Andrei Vasilevskiy (Game 4 of the 2015 Final with the Lightning) and Jussi Markkanen (Game 2 of the 2006 Final with the Oilers).
The Taylor Hall-Logan Stankoven-Jackson Blake line continues to drive the bus for Carolina; the trio lead the team in playoff scoring, and 45 of their 51 combined points are at even strength. Hall and Blake’s 16 even-strength points are tied for the most in a single postseason in Whalers/Hurricanes history; they both passed Corey Stillman’s 15 (2006) during Game 4.
Stankoven’s 11 goals are second most in a single postseason in franchise history behind Rod Brind’Amour’s 12 in 2006.
Best bet for Thursday
The bet: Shea Theodore three-plus shots on goal (+320)
The starting prop is two-plus for Theodore’s shots, but let’s push it to three-plus for the increased payout. Why? Back on home ice, Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour gets the structural luxury of the last change. The Golden Knights will have to look to their blue line to generate offense. Theodore has been the primary engine from the back end all series, famously burying the double-overtime winner in Game 3.
Theodore is averaging over 28:55 of ice time per game in the Final, almost 3½ minutes more than any other skater. Expect him to put plenty of pucks on the net as Vegas tries to crack the Carolina shell from the perimeter. Though his eight shots on goal just sneak into the top 10 for the series, his 23 attempted shots put him in the top four. — Sean Allen
Tuesday’s scoreboard
Carolina Hurricanes 5, Vegas Golden Knights 3
Series tied 2-2
Games 1-3 of the 2026 Cup Final averaged 8.33 goals per game. Game 4 would come close to hitting that number, missing on the 0.33 portion but providing a wealth of back-and-forth entertainment on par with the earlier games.
The Canes got off to another fast start, with Logan Stankoven opening the scoring just 1:06 into the game and linemate Jackson Blake tallying at 3:28.
The Golden Knights fought back, as captain Mark Stone made a slick move to put one past Brandon Bussi to cut the lead in half. A little over five minutes later, Canes captain Jordan Staal scored another power-play goal, pushing the lead back to two. In the closing seconds of the period, the Knights thought they had a goal off the stick of Brayden McNabb, but it was taken off the board after video review, as time had expired prior to the puck crossing the goal line.
The second period belonged to Vegas, with a goal at 4:22 from William Karlsson and Brett Howden’s 14th of the postseason at 17:08. The game remained tied into the third period, until Staal sprawled out for an epic go-ahead goal that put the Canes up for good.
Nikolaj Ehlers banked in an empty-netter to seal the deal, sending the series back to Raleigh knotted at two games each. Full recap | Grades
Playoff scoring leaders
PlayerGPGAP1. Mitch Marner, F, Golden Knights
Click here for full list of stats leaders.
Playoff goaltending leaders
PlayerGPWGAASV%1. Arturs Silovs, Penguins
Click here for the full list of goaltender stats.
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