Carolina Hurricanes Win Stanley Cup

The Carolina Hurricanes entered tonight’s game leading the Stanley Cup Finals 3-2. The Stanley Cup was in the building with the Hurricanes on the verge of hoisting Lord Stanley. They took care of business on the road in Vegas as they beat the Golden Knights 5-1. Taylor Hall opened the scoring. He scored his seventh of the postseason. The Hurricanes made 2-0 as Jackson Blake scored his seventh of the playoffs. Nikolaj Ehlers scored his eighth of the playoffs on the empty net. Brandon Bussi stopped all 22 shots he faced.

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Conn Smythe Winner

The Conn Smythe goes to the Most Valuable Player of the entire playoffs. The player from the Hurricanes who took home the award this season is Jordan Staal. He becomes the oldest player to win the Conn Smythe trophy. He had 12 points on eight goals and four assists.

Brandon Bussi Effect

Bussi, since replacing Frederik Andersen in the net, went 3-0-1. He posted a .931 save percentage and a 1.59 goals-against average. The team as a whole changed its entire play and looked like a completely different team. Despite losing, they even came back from a 4-0 deficit in game three and forced overtime in a 5-4 defeat. Bussi may have revitalized them and could very well be the team MVP in the Stanley Cup Finals. Bussi in the regular season went 31-6-2 with a 2.47 goals-against average, a .894 save percentage, and two shutouts. Many thought he’d be the starting goalie for Carolina in the playoffs, but they ultimately went with Andersen, who got them as far as he did, and Bussi finished the job.

Hurricanes Leaders

Despite Jordan Staal winning the Conn Smythe, the Hurricanes had some other leaders. Jackson Blake and Taylor Hall finished with 20 points each, both on seven goals and 13 assists. Logan Stankoven, the player they got back in the Mikko Rantanen trade, had 11 goals to help lead the Hurricanes.