Shea Theodore scored the double-overtime winner in one of the greatest Stanley Cup Final games of all time, as the Vegas Golden Knights took a 2-1 series lead over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
“I was pretty gassed there towards the end,” Theodore said. “Just relief that the game was over and we got the win.”
Theodore’s one-timer from the point took a mad bounce off of the end boards and Hurricanes netminder Brandon Bussi was unable to react in time, having the puck redirect off of his skate into the net at 5:38 of the fifth frame.
After allowing Carolina to erase a four-goal deficit in the third period, Vegas had avoided total disaster.
“I think at the end of the day we’re a resilient group,” Theodore said. “We’ve had I don’t know how many comebacks throughout the regular season and then just grinding to get to this point.”
“We stayed calm, we stayed collected. Obviously, the third period there, we have to take a better hold of that, but I liked the way we reset in overtime, especially the second overtime.”
Marner makes history
Three periods prior, Mitch Marner scored the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup Final history, increasing Vegas’ lead at the time to 4-0. Marner, who also had an assist, scored three unanswered goals in six minutes and 10 seconds, besting Maurice Richard’s mark set 69 years ago by 11 seconds.
“I thought our line actually played a really good game throughout all (five) periods,” Marner said. “I thought we did a really good job of just advancing pucks, winning battles down low, making plays. I thought we had good looks all night from all three of us.”
“I just got put in good areas by my teammates and I was happy enough to finish ’em off.”
Marner, the front runner for the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP), also set a new franchise record for most points in a single post-season. The Markham native has 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in his first playoffs as a Golden Knight, two more than Jack Eichel’s 26 in 2023.
Key contributors
Brayden McNabb had two assists in his return from a terrifying facial injury, Tomas Hertl had a goal and an assist, and Carter Hart made 29 saves for Vegas.
Jordan Staal had a goal and an assist, Taylor Hall, Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Martinook each scored, and Sebastian Aho had two assists for the Hurricanes, who were 6-0 in both overtime and away games these playoffs before Saturday. Frederik Andersen allowed four goals on 16 shots and was yanked before the beginning of the third period in favour of Brandon Bussi, who made 18 stops.
Looking back to Game 2, the Golden Knights felt a little robbed when a goaltender interference review called back their go-ahead goal late in the third. The referee had deemed that Ivan Barbashev stabbed Andersen’s glove as he jammed the puck in, but Vegas coach John Tortorella disagreed.
Game 4 is Tuesday (8 p.m. ET) in Las Vegas.
