A four-goal lead in what has been a wacky, compelling and highly entertaining Stanley Cup Final nearly wasn’t enough for the Golden Knights on Saturday night.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.A four-goal, third-period rally by the Hurricanes nearly made NHL history and in process sent shockwaves through T-Mobile Arena.And this game ended in a way perhaps befitting all the craziness, a shot from Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore off the skate of Brandon Bussi — the backup goalie put in the game in the third period after not playing for two months — that went into the net at 5:38 of double overtime to give the Golden Knights a 5-4 victory over Carolina.“I have experienced a lot of games in playoffs,” Golden Knights coach John Tortorella said.“I haven’t experienced one like this.”Almost overlooked was the four-point night by Vegas’ Mitch Marner, who also produced the fastest hat trick in Cup Final history.The Golden Knights took a 2-1 series lead.
The teams take two days off before meeting in Game 4 on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.Teams with a 2-1 series lead went on to win the Cup 46 of 57 times, or 80.7%.Carolina had been 6-0 in overtime this postseason.
The Hurricanes were trying to become the first team to win after trailing by at least four goals in the third period, but now clubs in that situation are 0-109.“We just left our foot off the gas,” Theodore said on the ABC broadcast.“I think we have to be sharper in the third, but I liked the resiliency out of our group.
I liked the way we started that second overtime, and I felt like we were more on our toes.”This was the 10th time the first three games of a Cup Final were decided by a point.The last time was in 2016 between Pittsburgh and San Jose.The Golden Knights seemed to have it in hand after scoring four times in the second, including a natural hat trick by Marner.But Jordan Martinook, Taylor Hall and Jordan Staal sco...