Hurricanes and Golden Knights Begin Chase for NHL Stanley Cup on Tuesday

The Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes met twice during the 2025–2026 NHL regular season. Vegas won both games last October.

Brayden McNabb #3 and Mark Stone #61 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrate after McNabb assisted Stone on a goal against the Colorado Avalanche in the first period of Game Four of the Western Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, on May 26, 2026. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

A Carolina Hurricanes—Vegas Golden Knights Stanley Cup Final showdown, at best, was a long-shot prediction when the NHL regular season began in October 2025.

When training camp began in September 2025, Hockey aficionados penciled in that the Colorado Avalanche would be hosting Lord Stanley’s Cup in the postseason. During the NHL’s regular season, the Avalanche lived up to their billing as the best in the Western Conference. Breezing through the first two rounds of the playoffs, with series victories over Los Angeles and Minnesota, Colorado, at 55–16–11 (121 points) claimed The Presidents’ Trophy, as the team with the best overall regular season record.