LAS VEGAS (AP) — Andrei Svechnikov jammed in a puck on a six-on-four power play with 1:42 left to complete a furious four-goal comeback by the Carolina Hurricanes and force overtime at 4-4 against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Teams that trail by at least four goals in a Cup Final game are 0-108. Now the Hurricanes have an opportunity in sudden death to become the first.
The Golden Knights seemed to have the game in hand after scoring four times in the second, including a natural hat trick by Mitch Marner.
But Jordan Martinook, Taylor Hall and Jordan Staal scored goals for the Hurricanes to turn what appeared to be a party atmosphere into a white-knuckler for the Golden Knights. Their goals, occurring 39 seconds apart, are the fastest in a Cup Final game
Marner scored the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup Final history, igniting a four-goal second period in for the Vegas Golden Knights, who held off a furious Carolina rally to beat the Hurricanes 4-3 lead and take a 2-1 series lead.
Marner's scoring outburst came over a 6:10 stretch of the period, and he had four points in the second. He had the secondary assist on Tomas Hertl's goal midway through the period.
The last time a player had four points in a period of the Cup final occurred in 1919 when Frank Foyston of the Seattle Metropolitans pulled off that feat.
Marner nearly added to the total in the third period, but failed to capitalize on a breakaway and a penalty shot. Those missed chances came back to bite the Golden Knights.
The Hurricanes made the comeback after changing goalies to open the third, going with Brandon Bussi, who stood tall in making all nine saves. Frederik Andersen had given up those four goals on 16 shots.
Vegas' Carter Hart has made 19 stops on 23 shots.
Vegas twice thought it took the lead early in the second period, but the Hurricanes successfully challenged both goals to keep the game scoreless.
Mark Stone's goal from the slot 36 seconds into the period was overturned when Brett Howden was determined to be offside after a video review. Another review wiped off Jack Eichel's rebound goal four minutes in when Rasmus Andersson was called for goalie interference.
It's not the first time this series went against the Golden Knights.
An unsuccessful video challenge by Vegas coach John Tortorella in Game 2 on Thursday night led to a power-play goal by Jordan Staal, whose goal helped the Hurricanes rally to win 4-3 in overtime.
The series is 1-1. Teams that take a 2-1 series lead in the final went on to win the Cup 46 of 57 times, or 80.7%.
The Golden Knights received a major boost when defenseman Brayden McNabb took the ice. He took a puck in the face in the first period Thursday night at Carolina and didn't return to the game. McNabb, who had on a cage to protect his face, is Vegas' best defensive defenseman. He was on the first defensive pair with Shea Theodore.
“I wish I could say it’s shocking, but it’s not," Golden Knights captain Mark Stone said on the ABC broadcast. "Just the way he comes to the rink every day, it’s like nothing happened. He’s one of a kind. They don’t make them like that anymore, that’s for sure.”
This series has been, if anything, unpredictable.
Each team blew two-goal leads in the first two games, with the Golden Knights rallying in the opener and Hurricanes responding with a Game 2 victory in overtime.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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