Jun 6, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mitch Marner (93) and center William Karlsson (71) celebrates a goal by defenseman Shea Theodore (not pictured) against the Carolina Hurricanes during the second overtime in game three of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images
Jun 6, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mitch Marner (93) and center William Karlsson (71) celebrates a goal by defenseman Shea Theodore (not pictured) against the Carolina Hurricanes during the second overtime in game three of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images
Games 1 and 2 of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs saw the Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes on equal footing. But Game 3 on Saturday, June 6, brought with it a whirlwind of events.
While the Golden Knights eventually won 5-4 in the second overtime, they initially blew a 4-0 lead. Following this, the Hurricanes responded with four goals of their own. Game 3 was a thriller for several reasons, which Chris Johnston of The Athletic outlined in an X post on June 6.
“This game has included:
Two VGK goals taken off the board by coach's challenges
Mitch Marner natural hat trick, fastest in SCF history
Stopped Marner penalty shot that would have made it 5-0 in 3rd period
Three Carolina goals in 39 seconds, fastest in SCF history.”
True enough, the Knights’ right winger, Mark Stone, scored early in the second period, which was disallowed after Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour challenged it as an offside.
The second instance occurred at the 4:00 mark of the same period. Jack Eichel found a rebound and put it in the back of the net. Brind'Amour once again challenged the goal, calling goaltender interference.
Both challenges succeeded, erasing two Vegas goals.
The Knights soared to a lead after right-winger Mitch Marner scored the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup playoffs history. This gave the Knights a 4-0 lead after Tomas Hertl’s first goal.
Marner scored all three goals in the span of six minutes and 10 seconds, beating Montreal Canadiens’ Maurice Richard’s record of six minutes and 21 seconds from 1957.
Marner even had the opportunity to make the score 5-0 early in the third period. He attempted a short-handed penalty shot at 4:04, which was promptly stopped by Carolina’s backup goaltender, Brandon Bussi.
It was this missed penalty that began the Hurricanes' comeback, as they scored the next three goals in under a minute.
Carolina Hurricanes Set New Record With Game 3 Performance
While the second period saw a dominant Golden Knights performance, the third period belonged to the Hurricanes. After Marner missed his fourth goal opportunity, the Carolina offense began its onslaught.
At 7:03 in the third period, Carolina alternate captain Jordan Martinook scored the Hurricanes' first goal past goaltender Carter Hart. This opened up the floodgates, as the next 39 seconds saw the Hurricanes score two more.
Capitalizing on the momentum, Taylor Hall scored at 7:29 to notch his sixth goal this postseason. The Carolina captain took matters into his own hands as he smashed the third goal home at 7:42 from a pass by defenseman Jaccob Slavin.
This three-goal smokeshow broke a 72-year-old record for the quickest three goals in championship series history. The Montreal Canadiens had previously scored three in 56 seconds back in 1954.
Though the Knights went on to win the game in the second overtime, both teams recorded significant milestones in the NHL road map on Saturday’s Game 3.
Do you think the Carolina Hurricanes can make a comeback in Game 4 now that they are down 1-2 in the 2026 Finals series? Let us know in the comments.
