Hurricanes top Golden Knights in Game 4, even Stanley Cup Final 2-2

Carolina seized back control of the Stanley Cup Final with a 5-3 victory over Vegas in Game 4, flattening the Golden Knights’ early command and sending the best-of-seven back to level at 2-2. The Hurricanes built a 3-1 lead in the first period, surrendered it when Vegas pulled even at 3-3, then answered with two goals in the third to guarantee at least a Game 6. Jordan Staal delivered the decisive finish, scoring the go-ahead goal at 6:32 of the third period and adding a second goal in a night that repeatedly shifted the balance of the series.

Staal’s performance put him in a narrow slice of NHL history. He became the first captain to score in each of his first four games of the Stanley Cup Final, extending a run that has now produced goals in four straight games and five Final goals overall after he scored only two times in Carolina’s first 13 playoff games this spring. His winner came on a scramble finish, with Staal stretched out on the ice as he knocked the puck past Vegas goalie Carter Hart, the kind of goal that matched the chaos of a game with no secure lead.

Carolina also got a critical lift from Brandon Bussi in goal after Rod Brind'Amour reportedly chose him over Frederik Andersen, who was a healthy scratch. Bussi steadied the Hurricanes after Vegas erased the early deficit and made the middle of the game tense, but Carolina’s response in the third period proved decisive. The Hurricanes had already shown their ability to score in bunches, and this time they did it with the season pressure rising and Vegas pushing to tilt the series back in its favor.

For the Golden Knights, the loss undercut a run built around chasing a second championship in four years and a third Stanley Cup Final appearance as an expansion-era franchise. Instead, the Final has become a test of survival in a series defined by momentum swings and comeback wins of at least two goals. With the score tied and each game feeling increasingly volatile, the Cup now sits in a true best-of-three.