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Taylor Hall Carolina Hurricanes - In Play! magazine
The Hurricanes’ victory confirmed that Game 1 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final will take place at Lenovo Center on Tuesday, June 2 (8 p.m. ET on ABC, SN, CBC, TVAS). File photo: Tim Jarrold - In Play! magazine.
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May

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS MAY 29, 2026 – CAROLINA CLIPS CANADIENS TO CLINCH CLUB’S’S THIRD STANLEY CUP FINAL BERTH

The line of Taylor Hall (1-2—3), Logan Stankoven (1-2—3) and Jackson Blake (1-1—2) combined for eight points while Frederik Andersen stopped 23 of 24 shots as the Hurricanes eliminated the Canadiens with a final score of 6-1 and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in franchise history (also 2006 & 2002). Carolina enters the championship series versus Vegas with a 12-1 record this postseason including an active four-game winning streak.

  • Hall had his sixth, seventh and eighth points in potential series-clinching games during these playoffs to establish a single-postseason franchise record (2-6—8 in 3 GP), besting the previous mark set by Eric Staal (3-4—7 in 8 GP) and Cory Stillman (2-5—7 in 8 GP) en route to winning the Stanley Cup in 2006. Hall played alongside the eldest Staal brother with the 2020-21 Sabres and Stillman’s son, Riley, with the 2024-25 Hurricanes.
  • Hall was selected by the Oilers with the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NHL Draft and is headed to his first Stanley Cup Final following 16 campaigns and 1,056 career games between the regular season and playoffs. He assisted on the winner by Stankoven, who became the latest player with a series-clinching goal to put the Hurricanes into the championship round after Rod Brind’Amour (Game 7 of 2006 CF) and Martin Gelinas (Game 6 of 2002 CF) accounted for the previous two.
  • Andersen improved to 12-1 through 13 appearances this postseason with a 1.41 goals-against average, .931 save percentage and three shutouts. He became the third goaltender in NHL history with 12 wins through his first 13 games in a playoff year, following Ken Dryden with the 1976 Canadiens (12-1 in 13 GP) and Gerry Cheevers with the 1970 Bruins (12-1 in 13 GP).
  • Andersen extended his shutout sequence to 160:13 before yielding a third-period goal, which bested Kevin Weekes (143:55 in 2002) for the longest in franchise playoff history. Andersen dedicated the win to his late agent Claude Lemieux, who passed away Thursday and was honored with a pre-game moment of silence.

More notes from Hurricanes’ historic win

Carolina’s series-clinching victory, included Eric Robinson and William Carrier connecting on another goal as the line of Robinson, Carrier and Mark Jankowski concluded the Eastern Conference Final with 10 combined points. Carrier was claimed by Vegas from Buffalo in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft and won a Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023.

  • The Hurricanes and Golden Knights will play their first head-to-head playoff series during the 60th unique matchup between NHL franchises in Stanley Cup Final history. Carolina and Vegas each own a 1-1 series record in the championship round – the Hurricanes defeated the Oilers (4-3 W in 2006) after losing to the Red Wings (4-1 L in 2002), while the Golden Knights beat the Panthers (4-1 W in 2023) after falling to the Capitals (4-1 L in 2018).

NHL DRAFT CONNECTIONS: CALEB MALHOTRA

Caleb Malhotra of the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs, the No. 6-ranked North American skater and top-ranked center for the NHL Draft, had a debut OHL season to remember ranking second in rookie scoring with 29-55—84 in 67 games during the regular season and topping all rookie skaters in the playoffs with 13-13—26 in 15 contests. His father, Manny Malhotra, was head coach of the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL during the 2025-26 season and a longtime NHL forward who skated in 991 career NHL games.

  • Round 1 of the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft will take place on Friday, June 26 (7 p.m. ET). Rounds 2‑7 will be held on Saturday, June 27 (11 a.m. ET).

HURRICANES, GOLDEN KNIGHTS SET FOR STANLEY CUP FINAL

The Hurricanes and Golden Knights, a pair of perennial contenders, have their eyes set on the Stanley Cup, but the clubs have taken different paths to get back to the 2026 championship series. Carolina is looking to claim its first Stanley Cup in 20 years, while Vegas aims for its second title since 2023.

  • Carolina and Vegas have both been recent mainstays in the final four, with the Hurricanes reaching the Conference Finals four times in the past eight seasons and the Golden Knights doing so five times in nine years since their inaugural 2017-18 campaign. Vegas leads all franchises with 15 series wins since 2018, while Carolina is tied with Tampa Bay for the second most over that span (13).
  • While the Hurricanes seek to become the 12th different team in NHL history to go 20-plus years from one Final appearance to the next, the Golden Knights look to become the fourth franchise in the NHL’s expansion era to win multiple Stanley Cups prior to their 10th season, following the Oilers (4), Islanders (2) and Flyers (2).
  • The Golden Knights won both meetings against the Hurricanes during their 2025-26 season series, outscoring them 10-4 in the process. However, Carolina (9-7-0, 18 points) holds the slight edge over Vegas (7-6-3, 17 points) in their all-time regular-season history.
  • The Stanley Cup Final will feature a total of 13 players that skated at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, including eight from Vegas and five from Carolina. Jaccob Slavin (CAR), Jack Eichel (VGK) and Noah Hanifin (VGK) helped Team USA skate to a gold medal, while Seth Jarvis (CAR), Mitch Marner (VGK), Mark Stone (VGK) and Shea Theodore (VGK) earned a silver medal with Team Canada. Sebastian Aho (CAR) also won bronze for Team Finland.

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE

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Guest Writer