Will Game 1 be the highest-scoring game of the Stanley Cup Final?
Fans in the Lenovo Center in Raleigh and those watching around the globe were treated to a wild and thrilling first game of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final.
The Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes lit up the scoreboard in Game 1 on Tuesday night, combining for nine goals. The Golden Knights were able to rally from an early 2-0 deficit and, despite giving up a pair of leads later in the contest, came away with a 5-4 win, becoming the first team in NHL history to rally from a multi-goal deficit to win the opening game of the Stanley Cup Final on the road.
However, given how strong both teams’ defenses can be, it seems likely that Vegas and Carolina will settle things down for the rest of the series.
On Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton debate if Game 1 between the Golden Knights and Hurricanes will be the highest-scoring affair in the series.
Tyler Yaremchuk: In Carolina’s series against Montreal, it was a high-scoring Game 1, and then things kind of settled down. We’ve seen that in a few series, actually, throughout these playoffs. But your first question, there is a blank percent chance that this, a nine-goal game here, five for the final… that this was the highest-scoring game of the series.
Carter Hutton: I think there might be one outlier left in there, but I’m still going to go high. I’m going to say 65% that this is the highest-scoring game we’re going to see. I think that’s because of the goalie adjustments and the play adjustments. We had a little clip here of like these two goalies that have played so well leading up to him, they’ve been a big story. We highlighted them yesterday going into it, but last night there was a key save that I think is an adjustment made by Carter Hart, that like kind of leads to this game…Huge save. I think for Frederik Andersen, last night he wasn’t tracking the puck like he had been in previous series, and I don’t know if that’s because of the traffic, because of the way Vegas gets to the net. I think Eichel hit the post three times in the second period, like he shooting pucks to create is going to be a big havoc, and it’s going to see which goal we can adjust quicker here.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…