The Vegas Golden Knights needed one more push, one more answer and one more home-ice stand to keep their season alive.
Instead, Brandon Bussi gave Carolina the wall it needed.
Bussi stopped all 22 shots he faced, Taylor Hall scored early and the Hurricanes beat the Golden Knights 3-0 Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena to win the Stanley Cup Final in six games.
Carolina won the series 4-2, closing out the championship on Vegas’ ice after taking control of the Final with three straight wins.
The Golden Knights entered Game 6 facing elimination for the first time in the postseason. John Tortorella said in the morning that his team would be ready.
“They’re not afraid of the moment,” Tortorella said. “They’ll be ready to play.”
Vegas had urgency early. It did not have finish.
The Golden Knights outshot Carolina 11-8 in the first period and had two power-play chances, but Hall scored the only goal of the period at 3:47. Jaccob Slavin and Jackson Blake assisted on the even-strength goal, giving Carolina a 1-0 lead.
Vegas had chances to answer. Bussi stopped Pavel Dorofeyev, Mark Stone, Tomas Hertl and Jack Eichel in the opening period, then kept making the saves the Golden Knights needed him not to make.
Carolina Takes Control
The second period became the stretch that defined the night.
Vegas entered the period down one and needing a push. Instead, the Golden Knights managed only three shots. Carolina scored the only goal of the period and turned Game 6 into a grind Vegas never escaped.
Blake made it 2-0 at 13:31 of the second, scoring off an assist from Logan Stankoven. It was Blake’s seventh goal of the postseason and his second point of the night.
Vegas had one power play in the first, another that carried into the second and a third opportunity in the third period. The Golden Knights finished 0-for-3 on the man advantage.
Carolina also went 0-for-3, but the Hurricanes did not need special teams to win Game 6. They controlled enough of the five-on-five play, protected the middle of the ice and let Bussi handle the rest.
Vegas Runs Out of Push
The Golden Knights’ biggest issue was not just the score. It was how long they went without forcing Bussi to work.
Vegas went 18 minutes, 33 seconds without a shot on goal across the end of the second period and into the third. The drought came with the season slipping away and Carolina protecting a two-goal lead.
The Golden Knights finally generated a late push, but Bussi was a buzzsaw. He stopped chances from traffic, held his ground in scrambles and even made one save while seated in the crease, a fitting image for a night when Vegas could not find a way through him.
Eichel had one of the best looks of the third period, ringing a shot off the crossbar after a perfect feed from Stone on the power play with 9:25 left. It was Vegas’ only shot on that man advantage.
The Golden Knights pulled Carter Hart with about three minutes left, searching for one last spark. Carolina closed it out anyway.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored into the empty net at 18:52 to make it 3-0 and start the Hurricanes’ celebration.
Bussi Finishes It
Bussi stopped 22 shots for the shutout. Hart stopped 19 of 21 shots for Vegas before the empty-net goal.
Both teams finished with 22 shots. Carolina scored once in each period. Vegas never scored.
Hall, Blake and Ehlers had the Carolina goals. Blake had a goal and an assist. Slavin and Stankoven also had assists, and Ehlers’ empty-netter finished the night.
The Golden Knights played without William Karlsson, who was injured in Game 5. Cole Smith said in the morning that the rest of the group had to make up the difference.
“We all have to step up in his absence,” Smith said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that are capable of raising their games, and we’re all going to have to pull on the rope a little bit more.”
Vegas pulled. It just did not have enough left.
The Golden Knights gave Las Vegas another long spring, another Stanley Cup Final run and another reminder of the standard this franchise has built. They played into mid-June, pushed within two wins of another championship and gave the city another postseason ride.
But Game 6 belonged to Carolina.
The Hurricanes were cleaner, deeper and better when the series tilted. Bussi shut the door, Carolina finished the job, and the Golden Knights’ season ended two wins short of the Stanley Cup.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
