Hurricanes, Golden Knights taking turns imposing will in Stanley Cup Final
Following the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Tuesday’s Game 4, the Stanley Cup Final is even at 2-2 heading back to Carolina for Game 5. An even series after four games suggests that these teams have played tight, closely contested hockey, and while that’s true from a big picture perspective, it hasn’t always appeared that way when watching.
This series has been less like an evenly matched tug-of-war and more like a seesaw, as both teams have had dominant portions of each game. The fact that all four games so far have seen blown multi-goal leads speaks to the way Vegas and Carolina are capable of dictating play, even if they’ve just been on their heels for a stretch.
On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton were joined by Matt Larkin to discuss the back-and-forth action we’ve seen in this Stanley Cup Final.
Tyler Yaremchuk: When the games get hectic, they’re not hectic in the way that there’s a back-and-forth chance after back-and-forth chance. It’s like, one team takes over for 10 minutes, and you sit there and go “Well this series is over, they’ve found their game,” and then the other team just takes over for the next 10 minutes.
Matt Larkin: It’s so true. It’s kind of like watching, and I’m going to date myself, the old Rocky movies, when you had an extended sequence when one guy was just kicking the other guy’s ass. I do think it’s a reflection of the way both teams play. They’re so aggressive, especially Carolina with the ability to overwhelm on the forecheck. I also think it gives both teams a certain confidence that they can come back. Carolina in Game 3, which they didn’t win, came back from 4-0 because they can tilt the ice for extended periods of time.
I think for Carolina, they have their coach as their identity and they can roll so many waves and they’re so fast and aggressive. Vegas to me is unique because they play some of that style under Torts, but they also have the star power. That is something Carolina doesn’t have, they don’t have a Mark Stone or a Mitch Marner. Jack Eichel has been shut down in this series, but he could flip the switch any time. It think that is how Vegas can get back into it. You have Brett Howden of course playing at a star level in this series as well, and Shea Theodore maybe evolving into the best version of him we’ve ever seen, not just a one-way guy but a two-way guy. It’s been really fascinating and if I were to define this series, it’s about imposing will, and the teams are taking turns doing so.
You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Wednesday’s episode here…