The Vegas Golden Knights vs. Carolina Hurricanes Game 3 has entered the history books. The double-overtime game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, June 6, became one of the highest-watched games since 1999.

Vegas defeated Carolina 5-4 to take the 2-1 series lead. While it didn't break the all-time record, it set a new viewership milestone in the U.S.

“Most-Watched Stanley Cup Final Game 3’s in the United States (since 1999),” user Braylon Breeze posted on X.

Game 3 of the ongoing Cup Finals ranked second on the top 10 list with a whopping 5.046 million viewers on ABC. It is the most-viewed Game 3 since the triple-overtime battle between the Detroit Red Wings and the Carolina Hurricanes in 2002.

The Red Wings-Hurricanes Game 3 of the Cup Final brought in 5.482 million viewers on ABC 24 years ago. However, there's a catch.

Nielsen, which tracks the data, didn't include out-of-home viewing in its estimates until 2020. In fact, it's only been a few months since it started doing business for 100% of NHL markets.

The new methodology included traditional metrics combined with big data from Smart TVs and boxes. So it isn't completely surprising that the NHL is setting viewership records.

Then again, this Game 3 kept NHL fans on the edge of their seats.

The Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes traded records

After a pulsating first period, Vegas scored four goals in the second period to take a 4-0 lead. Tomas Hertl scored the opener for the Golden Knights at 10:26.

16 seconds later, Mitch Marner got his first goal on his way to the fastest ever Stanley Cup Final hat trick. He took just 6:10 minutes to achieve the feat, beating the previous record from Maurice Richard (6:21) set 69 years ago with the Montreal Canadiens.

Just when it seemed like the game was all over for Carolina going into the third period, they came roaring back to make it 4-4. Their three goals in just 39 seconds were the fastest in Stanley Cup Final history, with the first one belonging to Jordan Martinook at 7:03.

Taylor Hall and captain Jordan Staal scored the other two goals before Andrei Svechnikov equalised at 18:18 in the third period.

Goaltender Brandon Bussi made the most of his first opportunity in the Stanley Cup Playoffs after replacing struggling teammate Frederik Andersen in the third period.

However, he wasn’t able to stop a fortunate goal from Shea Theodore at 5:38 of the second overtime, which meant Vegas won it 5-4.

In Game 4, Carolina won 5-3 to level the Stanley Cup Final 2-2 with Game 5 set for Thursday, June 11, at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, NC.

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Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi