Hockey InsightsChampions

Stanley Cup Final · 2025-26

Carolina Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup

CAR def. VGK

Carolina Hurricanes won the 2025-26 Stanley Cup Final 4-2 over Vegas Golden Knights, 2 games went to overtime, 3 were decided by a single goal.

4-2

Series result · 6 games

Carolina Hurricanes lifted the Cup in Game 6 at T-Mobile Arena.

Series after

api-web.nhle.com club-schedule-season + gamecenter boxscore · fetched 2026-08-17 · 6 Final games

The road to the Final

16 clubs, 4 rounds

The whole tournament, in the shape that spring actually had: 16 clubs, 4 rounds. Every series carries the games the schedule feed publishes. 82 in all that spring. The champion's road is the lit line — OTT 4-0 · PHI 4-0 · MTL 4-1 · VGK 4-2. Hover a series to read it beside the board; choose one to open its games underneath.

1st Round8 series

2nd Round4 series

Eastern Conference Finals2 series

Stanley Cup Final1 series

api-web.nhle.com/v1/playoff-bracket/2026 · fetched 2026-08-17 · CAR champion · 4 rounds

The series, game by game

Pick a game

Every game of the Final as its own card. Choosing one opens its goal sequence below and repaints the series score in the band above to the moment that game ended.

Game 1 · VGK 5, CAR 4

2026-06-02 · Lenovo Center

One-goal game · Two-goal lead blown · Comeback win · Tied in the third

Goal sequence

1stVGK 1 · CAR 2
00:25 N. EhlersCARAssists: J. Slavin, J. ChatfieldGo-ahead0-1Watch the clip →
12:08 N. EhlersCARAssists: J. ChatfieldInsurance0-211m 43s laterWatch the clip →
13:28 S. TheodoreVGKAssists: B. McNabb, C. SmithCut the lead1-21m 20s laterWatch the clip →
2ndVGK 2 · CAR 1
00:30 I. BarbashevVGKAssists: J. Eichel, B. McNabbEqualizer2-27m 2s laterWatch the clip →
04:35 W. KarlssonVGKAssists: M. Marner, B. HowdenGo-ahead3-24m 5s laterWatch the clip →
12:42 J. StaalCARAssists: K. MillerEqualizer3-38m 7s laterWatch the clip →
3rdVGK 2 · CAR 1
01:21 B. HowdenVGKAssists: S. Theodore, B. McNabbGo-ahead4-38m 39s laterWatch the clip →
11:19 S. GostisbehereCAREqualizer4-49m 58s laterWatch the clip →
16:36 T. HertlVGKAssists: C. Sissons, S. TheodoreGAME WINNER5-45m 17s laterWatch the clip →

Goaltending

C. HartVGK59:30 · 4 GA · 4.03 GAA · EV 24/28 · SH 1/1 25/29 · .862 SV%W
F. AndersenCAR58:14 · 5 GA · 5.15 GAA · EV 15/20 · PP 2/2 · SH 1/1 18/23 · .783 SV%L

Shots on goal

VGK23
CAR29
DifferentialCAR +6

Points

B. McNabbVGK3
S. TheodoreVGK3
B. HowdenVGK2
N. EhlersCAR2
J. ChatfieldCAR2

Shots by player

J. EichelVGK3
P. DorofeyevVGK3
I. BarbashevVGK3
J. StaalCAR3
S. JarvisCAR3

Time on ice

K. MillerCAR23:51
R. AnderssonVGK23:18
S. TheodoreVGK23:00
S. WalkerCAR22:19
J. SlavinCAR21:52

Hits

I. BarbashevVGK8
C. SmithVGK7
S. WalkerCAR5
C. SissonsVGK4
N. DowdVGK4

Three stars · the league's

1S. TheodoreVGK1 G 2 A
2N. EhlersCAR2 G 0 A
3B. HowdenVGK1 G 1 A

The team line · VGK / CAR

Faceoffs won50.8% / 49.2%
Power play0/3 / 0/2
Power play %0.0% / 0.0%
Penalty minutes4 / 6
Hits35 / 26
Blocked shots16 / 13
Giveaways18 / 16
Takeaways3 / 7

9 of 9 goals carry the league's own highlight clip; the links sit on the goal sequence.

api-web.nhle.com gamecenter/2025030411/landing + /boxscore + wsc/game-story · fetched 2026-08-17

The series as a whole

6 games

The shape of the Final, its intensity, and who carried it. The Conn Smythe Trophy is voted by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and is not carried in this feed. These are the series leader boards, not an award pick, and no composite score is computed.

Shape

Games played6
Series result4-2
GoalsCAR 24 · VGK 18
Overtime games2
Multi-overtime games1
One-goal games3
Decided by three or more1
Shutouts1
Lead changes3
Comeback wins2
Home wins3–3
Empty-net goals2

gamecenter boxscore + landing · fetched 2026-08-17 · Empty-net goals are counted from the goal feed's own goalModifier flag. A count of zero means none was flagged, which for an early Final may mean none was recorded.

Intensity

Penalty minutes72 · 12.0 per game
Hits449 · 74.8 per game
Games with 50 or more hits6
Blocked shots186
Giveaways215
Takeaways62
Shots on goal315
Power-play goals8

gamecenter boxscore playerByGameStats · fetched 2026-08-17

Goaltending, whole series

C. HartVGK6 games · 382.1 min · .863 SV% · 3.45 GAA 139/1612-4
B. BussiCAR4 games · 225.4 min · .931 SV% · 1.60 GAA · 1 shutout 81/873-1
F. AndersenCAR3 games · 162.2 min · .815 SV% · 4.44 GAA 53/651-1

gamecenter boxscore goalies · fetched 2026-08-17

Scoring leaders

N. EhlersCAR9 P (4G 5A)
M. MarnerVGK8 P (3G 5A)
S. TheodoreVGK7 P (2G 5A)
J. StaalCAR7 P (6G 1A)
B. HowdenVGK6 P (4G 2A)
B. McNabbVGK6 P (0G 6A)

Winning goals

T. HertlVGK1 winner
S. TheodoreVGK1 winner
J. StaalCAR1 winner
S. AhoCAR1 winner
S. JarvisCAR1 winner
T. HallCAR1 winner

Time on ice per game

S. TheodoreVGK27:16
K. MillerCAR24:18
J. SlavinCAR24:11
S. WalkerCAR23:54
J. ChatfieldCAR23:16

gamecenter boxscore playerByGameStats · fetched 2026-08-17

In the era

98 Finals · 520 games

This Final measured against its own decade and against every Final the league's game feed covers. The 2020s line covers 7 Finals and 41 games. Rates are per Final game, and every Final contributes only to the rates it has data for: hits-per-game is computed over the Finals since 1997-98 that record hits, not over all of them. Each rate publishes its denominator.

This Final against the era

Overtime games2 of 6
This Final33%
2020s27%
All Finals18%
One-goal games3 of 6
This Final50%
2020s46%
All Finals41%
Shutouts1 of 6
This Final17%
2020s12%
All Finals17%
Goals per game42 goals
This Final7.00
2020s6.32
All Finals5.33

derived from all 98 Finals in data/cup_finals/ · fetched 2026-08-17

Records across the feed

Longest Final2023-24 · 7 games
Most overtime games1950-51 · 5
Highest scoring1972-73 · 9.33 per game
Most one-goal games2014-15 · 5

derived from data/cup_finals/index.json · fetched 2026-08-17

What the record actually holds

Coverage

All 14 statistical modules are published for this Final. A module counts as available only if the series contains a non-zero value for it. Historical boxscores carry the same field names as modern ones filled with zeros — 1978-79 publishes hits: 0 for all 170 skaters — so field presence is not evidence and is not treated as such.

Goal-by-goal sequenceGoaltender win/loss decisionsPenalty minutesTeam shots on goalGoaltender shots/saves/save%Goaltender even-strength/PP/SH splitsSkater time on iceHitsBlocked shots, giveaways, takeawaysFaceoff percentageShift countsGoal strength (even, power play, shorthanded)Winning-goal scorer (from the schedule feed)On-ice situation codes
Method

Final games are selected from the club schedule feed on seriesStatus.seriesAbbrev of SCF, not on a round number: the Cup Final is round four only in a four-round playoff, and the 1954-55 Final is recorded as round two. No MVP or composite rating is computed. The Conn Smythe is a published award and is not in this feed.

Goal labels are relative to the team that scored. A goal that closes a two-goal gap to one is the scorer's own cut, not the leader's insurance. The winning goal is the champion's goal that put it one clear of the finalist's final total, which is the league's own definition.

Previous Final2024-25 · FLA
Sources: api-web.nhle.com/v1/club-schedule-season/{team}/{season} · api-web.nhle.com/v1/gamecenter/{game}/boxscore · api-web.nhle.com/v1/gamecenter/{game}/landing · data/stanley_cup_champions.json (the site's 107-Final ledger; it drives the season list) · data/franchise_history.json (alias_chain, for season-correct tricodes). Fetched 2026-08-17. The season list is driven by the site's own Stanley Cup ledger, and tricodes are resolved season by season through the franchise alias chain, so a Final is requested with the code its clubs actually used that year.