Hurricanes, Golden Knights set to open Stanley Cup Final with Tuesday’s Game 1

Hurricanes, Golden Knights set to open Stanley Cup Final with Tuesday’s Game 1 1 of 4 | Carolina Hurricanes’ Eric Robinson celebrates following Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens in Raleigh, N.C., Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker) 2 of 4 | Vegas Golden Knights right wing Cole Smith (22) celebrates after scoring against the Colorado Avalanche during the third period in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) 3 of 4 | This photo combination shows Vegas Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella, left, April 24, 2026, in Salt Lake City and Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour in Raleigh, N.C., May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak, Karl DeBlaker, file) 4 of 4 | This photo combination shows Vegas Golden Knights’ Brayden McNabb, left, Dec. 11, 2025, in Philadelphia and Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho, April 11, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton, Tyler Tate) 1 of 4 | Carolina Hurricanes’ Eric Robinson celebrates following Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens in Raleigh, N.C., Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker) 1 of 4 Carolina Hurricanes’ Eric Robinson celebrates following Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens in Raleigh, N.C., Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 4 | Vegas Golden Knights right wing Cole Smith (22) celebrates after scoring against the Colorado Avalanche during the third period in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) 2 of 4 Vegas Golden Knights right wing Cole Smith (22) celebrates after scoring against the Colorado Avalanche during the third period in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 4 | This photo combination shows Vegas Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella, left, April 24, 2026, in Salt Lake City and Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour in Raleigh, N.C., May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak, Karl DeBlaker, file) 3 of 4 This photo combination shows Vegas Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella, left, April 24, 2026, in Salt Lake City and Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour in Raleigh, N.C., May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak, Karl DeBlaker, file) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 4 of 4 | This photo combination shows Vegas Golden Knights’ Brayden McNabb, left, Dec. 11, 2025, in Philadelphia and Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho, April 11, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton, Tyler Tate) 4 of 4 This photo combination shows Vegas Golden Knights’ Brayden McNabb, left, Dec. 11, 2025, in Philadelphia and Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho, April 11, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton, Tyler Tate) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] Raleigh, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes rolled through the Eastern Conference playoffs, while the Vegas Golden Knights picked up speed with each round before pulling off a shocking sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche.That has brought them to the Stanley Cup Final for Tuesday night’s opener, with the Golden Knights chasing a second championship in four seasons while the Hurricanes are playing for the Cup for the first time since coach Rod Brind’Amour captained them to the 2006 title.The Hurricanes went 12-1 through three rounds to get here, sweeping through Ottawa and Philadelphia before taking the last four games of a five-game win against Montreal in the Eastern Conference Final. That made the Hurricanes the first team since 1983 to reach the Stanley Cup Final with one loss, and the first since the NHL went to best-of-seven series in all four rounds in 1987. The Golden Knights — who surged after a late-season coaching change by firing Bruce Cassidy to hire John Tortorella — pushed past Utah and Anaheim in a pair of six-game series, and have won six straight games entering Tuesday’s Game 1 against Carolina after beating the Avs. 3 MIN READ 1 MIN READ 4 MIN READ Defense has been the standout feature for both teams. Carolina has allowed two or fewer goals in 12 of 13 playoff games, including a shutout win in all three Eastern playoff rounds. Vegas allowed just seven goals in the sweep of the Avalanche, who led the league in regular-season scoring (3.63 goals per game) behind high-end skill like Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Martin Necas. Vegas took both regular-season meetings with Carolina, first with a 4-1 home win on Oct. 20. Eight days later, Jack Eichel scored twice in the last 4:59 for a 6-3 win that included Carolina having multiple injuries that had them down to four defensemen for a significant stretch of the night.___AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl