LAS VEGAS — Embrace the chaos.
That can be the only slogan for the 2026 Stanley Cup Final.
At least through three ridiculous games, anyway.
How else to describe what we’ve witnessed so far between the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights?
Jack Eichel sure hasn’t seen anything like it.
“No, I haven’t,” the Golden Knights star center said after his team’s unforgettable 5-4 win in double overtime Saturday night. “Obviously a lot of back and forth. A lot of lead changes. But so much resiliency by us and we found a way to get it done. I’m really happy to be on the right side of this.”
Yes, because it easily could have been the worst collapse in a Stanley Cup Final game, and everyone would have been talking about it. But the Golden Knights found their nerve and now lead 2-1 in a series that has had so many things happen already.
There surely has never been a wilder opening three games of a Stanley Cup Final in NHL history.
“This has been the craziest start to a finals for sure,” former Anaheim Ducks star captain Ryan Getzlaf told The Athletic via text message Saturday night. “No way I can remember there ever being this many lead changes and overtime and disallowed goals all in a three-game span. Just proves where our game is right now is great for hockey fans.”
Forget for a moment the intensity that we’d already witnessed in Games 1 and 2 in Raleigh, where the winning team erased 2-0 deficits in both their victories in between all kinds of other madness.
But Saturday night here at T-Mobile Arena? Holy mama.
The wild game included:
• A Mitch Marner natural hat trick in the second period, the fastest in Stanley Cup Final history.
• Brandon Bussi replacing Frederik Andersen in goal after the second period and standing on his head the rest of the way.
• Marner stopped on a penalty shot which would have made it 5-0 Vegas early in the third period.
• Followed by three Carolina goals in 39 seconds, fastest in finals history.
• Carolina erasing a four-goal deficit with all four tallies coming in the third period to force overtime.
• The only other time a team erased a four-goal deficit in the Cup Final, regardless of the result, was in Game 1 in 1972 when the Rangers trailed 5-1 and tied it up before losing 6-5 to the Bruins.
• And oh yeah, two Golden Knights goals were disallowed on coach’s challenges early in the second period.
OK, everyone take a breath.
“It kind of sums up the sport of hockey,” Golden Knights center William Karlsson said after Saturday night’s win. “No one is ever out of it. Kudos to them, they found their way back and found a way to tie it up. But I’m happy and proud we got the win.”
Pure bedlam is what the second and third periods were on this night.
“No lead is safe in this FINAL!!!” Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Pronger told The Athletic via text message before overtime. “Home ice, up 4-0 and to have the ‘Canes come back on the road like this is unheard of. Three fantastic games for fans to enjoy. Highly entertaining.”
As a player in this series, how do you stay level-headed in the moment with all these lead changes and momentum swings and both clubs struggling to wrestle full control of the game?
“Yeah, good question,” Karlsson said. “It’s just two good teams going at it. Hopefully we can have a little more control in the future.”
The 25 combined goals are the most through the opening three games of the Cup Final since 1981 championship series when the New York Islanders and Minnesota North Stars combined for 30.
“It’s been three games that I haven’t really felt like I’ve been a part of,” Carolina forward Jordan Martinook said after Saturday night’s loss. “But I think we can tighten some things up and be a lot better, and I think we’re right there. It obviously sucks and hurts right now, but we’ll look at some things and see where we can improve, and come back Tuesday ready to try and even this up.”
What’s wild is that Carolina and Vegas are both structured, defensively sound teams. But they’re also very even, with deep lineups that are forcing mistakes.
“It’s kind of a stress game, you put stress on the other team and they cough it up and it’s in the net; it’s kind of how the goals have been scored,” Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said postgame. “Yeah, as you said, it’s chaotic a little bit.
“There was a lot going on tonight.”
Overtime hero Shea Theodore appreciates just how hard it’s been for either team to wrap their hands around this series and gain enough control of things.
“For sure,” Theodore said. “I think at the end of the day, we’re a resilient group. We’ve had I don’t know how many comebacks during the regular season and just grinding to get to this point. We stay calm, we stay collected. Obviously the third period there, we need to take a better hold of that.
“But I like the way we reset in overtime, especially the second overtime we played well.”
The fear for the NHL before this championship series pitting two non-traditional markets was that it might be difficult to draw out-of-market and casual fans into the equation. The early ratings have been strong on ESPN in the U.S. It might still be harder to convince Canadians to watch north of the border, but by now they’ve surely heard what the heck is going on in this gong show of a series.
And well, Toronto Maple Leafs fans no doubt were thrilled for Marner’s natural hat trick, right?
There was just so much going on in this game. Vegas head coach John Tortorella ignited a room full of laughter when he sat down postgame at the podium and was asked how he was doing.
“Ha, how am I doing?” Tortorella said with a face that suggested he had seen it all.
What’s it like to stand behind that bench and deal with the chaotic nature of this series, the lead changes, the mayhem?
“The game has changed so much into where, there is no lead that’s safe,” Tortorella said. “There’s so many different types of mistakes made, so many great plays made, you just never know where it’s going to go.
“I’ve experienced a lot of games in playoffs, I haven’t experienced one like this,” he added. “We could do nothing wrong in the second period. And probably did everything wrong in the third period. I don’t have an answer. I don’t know why it happens, but that’s just where our game is right now.”
And hockey fans are loving every minute of it. Four more games like this, please.