LAS VEGAS — Rod Brind’Amour captained the Carolina Hurricanes to their first Stanley Cup in 2006.
Twenty years later on Sunday night, Brind’Amour got to pick up and hold the trophy again on the ice at T-Mobile Arena after coaching the Hurricanes to another Stanley Cup victory.
Rookie goaltender Brandon Bussi, a waiver-wire pickup from Florida in October, made 22 saves to win his third straight start and record his first career playoff shutout, and Jackson Blake had a goal and an assist to lead the Hurricanes to a 3-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 on Sunday night.
Taylor Hall and Nikolaj Ehlers also scored for Carolina, which won the best-of-seven series, 4-2.
“I think it was just our time,” Brind’Amour said. “We weren’t going to be denied.”
Carolina captain Jordan Staal, who tied a Stanley Cup Final record with goals in five straight games to start the series and totaled six goals in the finals, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.
According to Sportsnet Stats, Brind’Amour became just the fourth person to both captain and coach a franchise to a Stanley Cup, joining Toe Blake (Montreal Canadiens), Hap Day (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Cooney Weiland (Boston Bruins).
“It felt great (to lift the Cup again),” Brind’Amour said. “I’m so happy for everyone. That’s what this is about. That’s what hockey is about. It’s the ultimate team sport.”
Brind’Amour was asked to compare winning the Stanley Cup as a player and a head coach.
“It’s different, because as a player, I really wanted it for myself,” Brind’Amour said. “Now, sitting back behind (the bench) watching, I really wanted it for these guys because there’s no harder-working group. I see it every day. It’s just like a proud dad watching his kids go to work. Just couldn’t say enough good things about this group.”
At 37 years and 277 days, Staal became the oldest winner of the Conn Smythe. Goaltender Tim Thomas (2011) of the Boston Bruins was the previous oldest at 37 years and 61 days.
Staal also won the Stanley Cup in 2009 as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“That’s a lot of years,” Staal said. “I mean, it’s amazing. It’s something I’ve been going after ever since I got the first one. You want to win it again and again and again.”
Carter Hart finished with 20 saves for Vegas, which lost in the finals for the second time in the team’s nine-year history. The Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in 2023.
Hall gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at the 3:47 mark of the first period. Jaccob Slavin set up the score with a stretch pass from blue line to blue line. Hall was open as he took the pass and broke in on the left wing, beating Hart with a wrist shot past his glove side for his seventh goal of the playoffs and second in the finals.
Vegas, which outshot the Hurricanes 11-8 in the opening period, had several excellent chances to tie the game later in the period. Brett Howden broke in alone down the slot midway through the period, but Bussi made a stick save on his five-hole try.
The Golden Knights had a flurry of chances near the end of the period, including two close-in tries by Mark Stone and a one-timer by Pavel Dorofeyev from the bottom of the right circle that Bussi made a diving save to stop.
Carolina tightened up on defense in the second period, holding Vegas to just three shots on goal. The Hurricanes extended the lead to 2-0 at the 13:31 mark when Logan Stankoven fed Blake alone on the edge on the right circle, and Blake blasted a one-timer past Hart’s glove side for his seventh goal of the playoffs.
Vegas had a chance to cut the lead in half midway through the third period when Carolina forward Eric Robinson went to the penalty box for high-sticking Nic Dowd. On the ensuing power play, Stone crossed a pass to a wide-open Jack Eichel at the bottom edge of the left circle, but Eichel’s snap shot against a stickless Bussi went off the crossbar.
The Golden Knights pulled Hart for an extra attacker with three minutes to go, and Ehlers intercepted a pass and sealed the win with an empty-netter with 68 seconds to play, his eighth goal of the playoffs.
“As I’ve always said, it’s a find-a-way league,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “All the games were close, and it was just try to find a way, and they did tonight, and they beat us.”
Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb, who played the final four games with a full cage after taking an Ehlers slap shot on the nose that needed 30 stitches to repair, said he was proud of his team.
“We came together late in the year and we battled our asses off,” McNabb said. “I’m proud of how we got here. We just came up a little bit short.”
Slavin joined Ken Morrow (Islanders, 1980) as the only American-born players to win Olympic gold and the Stanley Cup in the same year.
–Steve Guiremand, Field Level Media