Svechnikov, Aho strike as
Hurricanes top Golden Knights 4-2 to move within a win of the Stanley
Cup
[June 12, 2026]
By AARON BEARD
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes had spent the NHL
playoffs waiting for their power play to get going, along with
top-line performers Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho.
And they had spent the first four games of the Stanley Cup Final
being outplayed in critical second-period sequences.
On Thursday night, it all came together, aligning to bring the
Hurricanes within a victory of winning the Cup.
Svechnikov scored twice and Aho added a second-period goal in a
breakout offensive game for both, helping the Hurricanes beat the
Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 for a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“I liked our effort for sure, and I hope we're getting better,”
coach Rod Brind'Amour said. “I think there's certain areas of our
game that are starting to look a lot like we need it to look. But I
do think there's still another level that we're going to need to get
to find that next one.”
Captain Jordan Staal found the net again for the fifth straight game
in this series after Vegas had taken a 1-0 first-period lead, while
Brandon Bussi finished with 23 saves in his second career postseason
start.
Game 6 is Sunday night in Las Vegas, with the Hurricanes playing for
the chance to hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time since
Brind’Amour captained them to the title in 2006.
Aho's goal in the second period marked his first of the series,
coming when Sean Walker found him cutting to the left side after
Jordan Martinook — swapped with Seth Jarvis to work alongside Aho
and Svechnikov on the top line — won a puck battle behind the net on
the forecheck.
Then there was Svechnikov, who entered Thursday with four postseason
goals before striking twice on the power play. On the first, he
whipped the puck past Carter Hart on the right side for a 2-1 lead
in the second period. On the second, he had a short putaway at the
post off a sharp feed from Nikolaj Ehlers for a 4-1 lead, one of
three assist for Ehlers on the night that included him having two
delay-of-game penalties for putting a puck over the glass.
Before those second-period scores, Vegas had outscored Carolina 9-1
in the second period during the series.
And unlike most multi-goal leads in what has been a wild and
thrilling series, this one held up with Bussi doing enough to stave
off Vegas' late push to climb back in it.
[to top of second column] |
Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) moves the puck in front of
Vegas Golden Knights' Noah Hanifin (15) during the second period in
Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series in Raleigh, N.C.,
Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
“It required everything we have,” Staal said on the
ESPN broadcast.
Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice for Vegas, finding the net for the
first time since Game 1 of the Western Conference Final sweep of
Presidents’ Trophy winner Colorado.
“I thought we were still doing some good things,”
Vegas’ Jack Eichel said. “We had chances.”
Hart entered this one as the first goaltender in Stanley Cup Final
history to give up at least four goals in each of the first four
games, then did it again to continue a difficult series while
finishing with 20 saves.
Asked if he considered swapping to backup Adin Hill, coach John
Tortorella responded: “That could be the stupidest question I've
heard.”
Vegas had twice before been in a 2-2 series in these playoffs, in
the first round against Utah and the second round against Anaheim.
Both times, the Golden Knights won Game 5 and closed out the series
in Game 6.
This time, they’ll have to win on home ice to force the series back
to Carolina for a Game 7 on Wednesday night. And they'll have to
take two in a row against a Hurricanes team that hasn't suffered
consecutive losses since mid-January.
Not that Tortorella was fazed.
“We'll be back here,” he said confidently, saying he would leave his
clothes behind at the team's hotel in expectation of returning to
North Carolina.
Vegas played much of the night without center William Karlsson, who
was being checked out on the bench for an apparent upper-body
injury. Karlsson skated to the tunnel midway through the second
period and didn’t return. Tortorella said the center was “not going
to be with us, probably" in the coming games.
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