Vegas Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella defended the challenge call during Game 2. With the score line 2-2 and just five minutes left in the third period, the referees disallowed a go-ahead goal from Pavel Dorofeyev, but the coach didn't agree.

While the officials disallowed the goal due to goalie interference on Carolina Hurricanes' Frederik Andersen, Tortorella didn't see it that way.

“I saw a loose puck in front of Freddie, our player stabbed it, didn’t move the goalie, and it goes through, and went to the other side. I’d challenge it 10 out of 10 times,” Tortorella said in the postgame interview as per Gino Hard on X.

After the challenge from John Tortorella, Vegas, who had dealt with penalty-kills in the early stages of the Cup Final, fumbled. Just 25 seconds into the restart, Carolina made it 3-2.

Captain Jordan Staal scored a power play goal after managing to tip in a shot past goaltender Carter Hart with just 4:35 left on the clock in the third period.

The Golden Knights captain, Mark Stone, managed to force overtime after scoring a game-leveling goal for 3-3 with just 1:21 remaining in play.

However, the Canes secured a 4-3 victory in overtime with a goal from Seth Jarvis at 3:56 to a rousing reception from home fans at the Lenovo Arena in Raleigh, NC.

So what led to the disallowed goal for the Vegas Golden Knights?

Ivan Barbashev, the Vegas Golden Knights forward, took a shot at the goal after circling the netminder from left to right in an attempt to deceive Frederik Andersen.

The Carolina Hurricanes goaltender was alert to the play and made a diving save across the crease.

It led to an all-night scuffle at the front of the Canes net before Vegas forward Pavel Dorofeyev put the puck past the finish line after poking it out from under Andersen’s frame.

While the Golden Knights thought it was a 3-2 play for them, the referees immediately waved it off for goalie interference.

Also, one of the referees on top of the play had blown the whistle to declare it dead when the puck was under Andersen. It meant that the disallowed goal wouldn’t have stood in all likelihood even if the challenge were to be made.

Game 3 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final will happen at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, June 6.

Which team will take a 2-1 lead in Game 3, Vegas or Carolina? Give us your predictions in the comments.

You can read more at NHL Fan Central.

Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi