From a starting point of 16 teams, the 2026 Stanley Cup playoff field is now down to two.
The Carolina Hurricanes blew past their competition in the Eastern Conference, needing only 13 games to win three series. The Vegas Golden Knights needed 16 games to get past their three opponents, but that included a four-game sweep of the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche.
Who will win the Cup? Here is intel on both teams, including goaltender confidence ratings, what we've learned so far about each team, key players and more.
More: Full schedule
Stanley Cup odds
Conn Smythe Watch
Top players in SCF
Expert picks: CAR or VGK?
How Cup finalists were built
Offseason guide for eliminated teams
M1 Carolina
Hurricanes
vs.
P1 Vegas
Golden Knights
Path to the SCF:
Hurricanes: Defeated Senators in four games, Flyers in four games, Canadiens in five games
Golden Knights: Defeated Mammoth in six games, Ducks in six games, Avalanche in four games
Leading playoff scorers:
Hurricanes: Taylor Hall (5 G, 11 A in 13 GP)
Golden Knights: Mitch Marner (7 G, 14 A in 16 GP)
Goaltenders:
Hurricanes: Frederik Andersen (12 W | 1.44 GAA | .928 SV%)
Golden Knights: Carter Hart (12 W | 2.22 GAA | .924 SV%)
Schedule:
Game 1: Golden Knights at Hurricanes | Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 2: Golden Knights at Hurricanes | Thursday, 8 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 3: Hurricanes at Golden Knights | Saturday, 8 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 4: Hurricanes at Golden Knights | June 9, 8 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 5*: Golden Knights at Hurricanes | June 11, 8 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 6*: Hurricanes at Golden Knights | June 14, 8 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 7*: Golden Knights at Hurricanes | June 17, 8 p.m. ET (ABC)
Carolina Hurricanes
What we learned in the conference finals
Carolina is a well-oiled machine. Forget that first period of Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens, when the Canes gave up four goals on inexplicable turnovers. There's no doubt 12 days of sitting around after sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers and waiting on the Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres to wear each other out took a toll. Because after those opening 20 minutes, they were in full control of that series and seemed to become more powerful by the period.
The Hurricanes' offense was slow to find a rhythm -- it didn't really shift into high gear until Game 4 -- but when a team can execute defensively the way Carolina can, a temporary lack of reliable, consistent scoring can be overcome. And it's not as if the Hurricanes weren't making an effort; they outshot Montreal 153-77 from the second period of Game 1 on, and also doubled them up in shot attempts.
At the same time, Andersen and Carolina's vaunted defensive structure repeatedly shut down the Canadiens stars. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky and even previous game-winning goal scorer Alex Newhook were all no-shows after Game 1. It sent a message to anyone still wondering that the Hurricanes were not about to blow the latest opportunity to reach a Cup Final.
Goalie confidence rating: 9.5/10
It's hard to argue against Andersen's Conn Smythe contention at this point. And not because the Hurricanes' goaltender has had a (nearly) flawless run. Andersen stands tall when it matters for Carolina and that's what the Hurricanes have needed.
Andersen's .932 save percentage is best among postseason goalies who made more than four starts. His 1.41 goals-against average is tops among goalies who appeared in more than one period of play. Oh, and he's 12-1 to date, with a pair of series sweeps under his belt.
The conference finals stats for Andersen were comparatively underwhelming -- .886 SV%, 1.91 GAA -- and yet he still guided Carolina to a pair of overtime victories and persevered through a nightmare scenario for goaltenders in which they see so few shots in a game that every puck starts feeling potent.
The bottom line is that Carolina is in the results business, and Andersen has delivered. Not by being impenetrable, but through an unflappability that encouraged coach Rod Brind'Amour to make him Carolina's playoff starter (despite an uneven regular season) and continuously earns "Steady Freddie" praise from teammates who feed off his serene energy.
Key player to watch in the Cup Final:
Jaccob Slavin, D
A player can illustrate his importance with a bad performance the same as a good one, and Slavin is Exhibit A. His atrocious minus-four outing in Game 1 of the conference finals was perplexing. And he wasn't wrong in acknowledging his play probably handed the Canadiens a win.
The good thing for Carolina is a Slavin performance like that is rare -- like a first-time-in-his-career sort of outlier. Slavin has played his typical brand of shutdown D while carrying big minutes (23:13 per game in the playoffs) alongside K'Andre Miller as the Hurricanes' top blueliner.
He doesn't add much on the scoresheet -- with only two assists in 13 games -- but it's the details that make him special. His gap control and active stick work make him a nightmare to contend with in the neutral zone -- and even the league's best skaters look pedestrian with the way he shuts down rush chances. That's when Slavin is in cheat mode, the setting Carolina needs out of him from puck drop of Game 1 in the Cup Final. It will set a tone for the team to see him step up and slow down the potent Golden Knights' attack without any glaring hiccups.
The Hurricanes haven't been prolific on offense in the postseason; their greatness has come from goaltending and defense. Slavin is a core part of Carolina's prosperity, in which it's not overreaching to say where he goes, so too will the Hurricanes.
Big question ahead of the Cup Final:
Can this be a statement series for Carolina's top line?
It has been an interesting postseason for the Hurricanes' top unit of Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov. In the first round, the three combined for three goals (all by Aho). In the second, they collectively had six points. The trio's best effort to date was in the conference finals with five goals -- although Aho's lone strike was on the power play. That's not quite enough based on their opportunity (at over 13 minutes of ice time at 5-on-5 per game).
The Hurricanes' depth scoring has been among the team's greatest strengths. The second line with Taylor Hall (16 points in 13 games), Logan Stankoven (a team-leading nine goals), and Jackson Blake (15 points in the playoffs) has been excellent, and Nikolaj Ehlers is peaking at the right time (after putting up two goals and five points against Montreal). That success only highlights how infrequent Carolina's supposed No. 1 group has been at standing out over the entirety of this spring.
No team would complain that its secondary scoring is too elite. And if all the Aho line does in the Final is hold the Golden Knights' top unit at bay then that's something -- except it would fall beneath the threshold of its full potential. Jarvis paced Carolina with 32 goals in the regular season. Svechnikov was behind him at 31, and Aho finished with 27 (and a team-leading 80 points).
The Hurricanes haven't gotten all of their money's worth out of the trio in these playoffs; can they rally now when it matters most?
Vegas Golden Knights
What we learned in the conference finals
Vegas is a juggernaut now ... right? That's at least one way to describe the Golden Knights after they dismantled the Colorado Avalanche in a four-game sweep that showcased them as a dominant, resilient, relentless foe well past the "pillow fight" stage of their season.
The Knights essentially beat the Avs at their own game, turning into a "buzzsaw" -- according to Colorado coach Jared Bednar -- that whisked the regular season's Presidents' Trophy winners away without a single conference finals victory.
Vegas has it all: skill, speed, depth, goaltending and a commitment to new head coach John Tortorella's defense-focused system that has pushed the Golden Knights through every round so far. Getting a healthy Mark Stone back in Game 3 against the Avs boosted an already-rolling squad -- and the way Vegas punched Colorado in the mouth that night with five unanswered goals to erase a 3-0 deficit and utterly deflate the Avalanche? Clinical work.
The Golden Knights have an appreciation for one another and belief that each player will be at his best in big moments. Whether it's Stone or Mitch Marner or Jack Eichel or Pavel Dorofeyev or someone else -- the list of Vegas' stars with game-breaking potential is long.
Goalie confidence rating: 9/10
Tortorella had to trust his gut when it came to selecting a starting goaltender for the these. Carter Hart joined the Golden Knights after being one of five 2018 Canada world junior hockey players acquitted of sexual assault in July 2025, and signing a two-year deal with Vegas.
Hart then sat out almost three months because of a lower-body injury, while Adin Hill handled the net for Vegas. When Hart returned, his old coach from Philadelphia didn't hesitate to hand the reins back to Hart -- and the goalie responded with a 6-0-0 record and .930 SV% through the end of the regular season.
Goaltending has been integral to the Golden Knights' postseason run: Hart is 12-4, with a .924 SV% and 2.22 GAA. He has won six straight for Vegas, and just finished holding Nathan MacKinnon and the high-flying Avalanche offense (which averaged 3.63 goals per game in the regular season) to less than two per game, behind a staunch defensive effort.
The only real blemish in Hart's postseason was a bizarre performance against Utah in the first round in which he gave up four goals on only eight shots through nearly 57 minutes. Tortorella said after the game he had "full faith" in Hart, and credited his "mental toughness" for sticking with the netminder that night and going forward. Hart has continued showing up for Vegas and propelled them to be in prime position to secure another championship.
Key player to watch in the Cup Final:
Mitch Marner, F
Marner spent years in Toronto trying -- and failing -- to break through as not just a playoff performer, but an actual difference-maker. Something about Vegas has uncorked Marner's ability to finally be the latter.
He has had an exceptional postseason to date; Marner leads the Golden Knights in points per game (1.31) with seven goals (including two game-winners), and leads the league this postseason with 21 points with the second-most shots on net for Vegas (39).
Marner's offensive capabilities were part of a well-established reputation as one of the league's premier playmakers before he ever signed a long-term deal last summer. But what Marner is doing now isn't comparable to anything from the previous 10 years of his career. He's not just padding the stat sheet with points that don't ultimately matter to his team's outcomes. Marner is a timely contributor, a momentum-shifting, top-tier producer who's silencing his critics with each game.
The fact that Marner was quiet in the conference finals -- with only three assists in four games -- could actually make whomever he's matched up with against Carolina a little extra nervous. Given how Marner has shown up overall, there's no telling how much damage he could inflict if he reawakens for his first Cup Final appearance.
Big question ahead of the Cup Final:
How will the Knights handle the Hurricanes' defensive structure?
Carolina is coming out of a conference in which it basically threw a wet blanket on the Canadiens that they could never shrug off. The Hurricanes didn't just suppress Montreal's offense -- giving up only 77 shots on net from the second period of Game 1 to the final whistle of Game 5 -- they drained every ounce of confidence from the Canadiens until they appeared a shell of themselves by the end of the series.
How will the Golden Knights avoid being similarly jilted by Carolina's crushing defense? The Hurricanes define stingy; they're giving up 1.62 goals per game and 22.3 shots per playoff outing, and their penalty kill is at an eye-popping 92.5%. Vegas has a slight edge over Carolina when it comes to scoring this spring -- averaging 3.63 goals to Carolina's 3.23 -- but that's a whisper-thin margin that can be easily overcome.
The Golden Knights' depth has been a true strength to this stage. Consider Brett Howden and Dorofeyev tied for a team-leading 10 goals apiece as evidence of that, and the likes of Marner, Eichel (with 18 points in 16 games), Stone & Co. will challenge Carolina in potentially new ways than other opponents they've faced this postseason.
Whether the Golden Knights can crack the code of Carolina's defense and goaltending the way they did against Colorado will be the key to success or failure.