{"id":3145,"date":"2026-06-07T23:37:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T23:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145"},"modified":"2026-06-07T23:37:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T23:37:27","slug":"golden-knights-were-the-nhls-best-3rd-period-team-until-2-hurricanes-comebacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145","title":{"rendered":"Golden Knights were the NHL’s best 3rd-period team until 2 Hurricanes comebacks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Carolina Hurricanes left wing Jordan Martinook (48) reacts after Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore scored during the the second overtime in Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series , Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo\/Candice Ward)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

LAS VEGAS \u2014 The NHL\u2019s best third-period team this season suddenly can\u2019t hold a lead.<\/p>

Read more Toronto\u2019s Clement dodges tag from Baltimore\u2019s Henderson and is ruled safe, angering Orioles in loss<\/a><\/p>\n

Vegas paid for it in Game 2<\/a> of the Stanley Cup Final<\/a> at Carolina and barely escaped after an even more improbable Hurricanes comeback in Game 3.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Golden Knights\u2019 5-4 double-overtime victory Saturday night put them two wins from their second Stanley Cup in four years.<\/a><\/p>\n

To get there, they will not only need to get ahead, but stay there, beginning with Game 4 on Tuesday in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

That generally hasn\u2019t been a problem for the Golden Knights, whose plus-47 goal differential in the regular season was the league\u2019s best. They also were adept and closing out games in the playoffs, posting an NHL-leading plus-10 differential before Game 2 on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

Then came a lost 2-0 lead that night and 4-0 advantage that was erased on Saturday. Both leads held well into the third period.<\/p>\n

An anomaly for the Golden Knights or something more concerning?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s playoff hockey,\u201d Vegas coach John Tortorella said Sunday. \u201cA lot of stuff happens. I\u2019m not concerned about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In both games, the Golden Knights appeared to be in full control as the minutes in the third period were ticking down.<\/p>\n

Their defense in Game 2 kept the Hurricanes from mounting much of a threat until Carolina finally broke through with three goals. The Golden Knights seemed even more in control in Game 3, with Carolina coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour appearing to concede by changing goalies after the second period.<\/p>\n

The Golden Knights could very well be up 3-0 and going for the sweep, but the feeling is similar on the other side. Carolina blew its own lead in the opener,<\/a> scoring two quick goals in the first period only to let Vegas rally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re one shot away from being 3-0 in two games,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said. \u201cSo I think there\u2019s a ton of positives. They\u2019re a good team. They\u2019ve got good players. We could\u2019ve won this game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teams with 2-1 series leads in the Stanley Cup Final have gone on to win 80.7% of the time. But if the Hurricanes win Tuesday, suddenly it\u2019s a best-of-three with potentially two of those games at Carolina, including what would be a winner-take-all Game 7.<\/p>

Read more NASCAR race at Michigan stopped for crash involving Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell<\/a><\/p>\n

The Hurricanes can look at how Game 3 ended and wonder how differently the series might be playing out. Shea Theodore shot the puck off the boards and got a perfect bounce as the puck deflected off the back of goalie Brandon Bussi\u2019s skate and went into the net. It was Carolina\u2019s second own-goal of the game.<\/p>\n

The Golden Knights also could argue that game never should have come down to such a shot.<\/p>\n

With the game scoreless in the second period, the Golden Knights had two goals wiped out by Carolina challenges, the first for offside and the second for goalie interference. The Hurricanes\u2019 tying goal came on a mad scramble in front of Carter Hart\u2019s net, and Tortorella opted not to challenge for goaltender interference.<\/p>\n

He said the officials got all three calls correct, but was still fuming about his failed challenge for goaltender interference<\/a> in a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 2.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one the other night was wrong,\u201d Tortorella said. \u201cI don\u2019t care what any of you guys (media) said. It was wrong. The puck was there and it was poked. I don\u2019t know what all this crap and this rule, you can\u2019t overrule the official, some of the stuff you guys talk about, it\u2019s ridiculous. I just wish we had the rule that if the puck wasn\u2019t tied up and it went in the net, it\u2019s a good goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the video reviews that went the other way, the Golden Knights had chances to build on their four-goal lead.<\/p>\n

Mitch Marner, whose hat trick in the second period was the fastest in Cup Final history at 6:10, was turned away early in the third period on a breakaway and soon after on a penalty shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when Mitch had the penalty shot, I\u2019m thinking, we need to score that one,\u201d Tortorella said. \u201cI\u2019m not lying to you because they came back and scored four. I\u2019m thinking, we need another one just to keep on going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Golden Knights found a way to survive, and now they hope after Tuesday they will be just one win from taking it all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think at the end of the day we\u2019re a resilient group,\u201d Theodore said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had I don\u2019t know how many comebacks in the regular season and just grinding to get to this point. We stay calm. We stay collected. Obviously, in the third period, we have to take a better hold of that, but I like the way we reset in overtime and especially the second overtime.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Brandon Marsh homers for 3rd straight day as Phillies beat White Sox 9-5<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NHL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/stanley-cup<\/a> and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nhl<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NHL\u2019s best third-period team this season suddenly can\u2019t hold a lead<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nGolden Knights were the NHL's best 3rd-period team until 2 Hurricanes comebacks - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Golden Knights were the NHL's best 3rd-period team until 2 Hurricanes comebacks - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The NHL\u2019s best third-period team this season suddenly can\u2019t hold a lead\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-07T23:37:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f852c28a9f14fb918c442bb69de6d839-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3145#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3145\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Golden Knights were the NHL’s best 3rd-period team until 2 Hurricanes comebacks\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-07T23:37:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3145\"},\"wordCount\":927,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3145#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ac481097df42ea9c3d2e972b3a79407c-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3145#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3145\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3145\",\"name\":\"Golden Knights were the NHL's best 3rd-period team until 2 Hurricanes comebacks - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3145#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3145#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ac481097df42ea9c3d2e972b3a79407c-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-07T23:37:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3145#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3145\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3145#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ac481097df42ea9c3d2e972b3a79407c-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ac481097df42ea9c3d2e972b3a79407c-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Carolina Hurricanes left wing Jordan Martinook (48) reacts after Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore scored during the the second overtime in Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series , Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo\\\/Candice Ward)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3145#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Golden Knights were the NHL’s best 3rd-period team until 2 Hurricanes comebacks\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving Insider USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Golden Knights were the NHL's best 3rd-period team until 2 Hurricanes comebacks - Moving Insider USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Golden Knights were the NHL's best 3rd-period team until 2 Hurricanes comebacks - Moving Insider USA","og_description":"The NHL\u2019s best third-period team this season suddenly can\u2019t hold a lead","og_url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145","og_site_name":"Moving Insider USA","article_published_time":"2026-06-07T23:37:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f852c28a9f14fb918c442bb69de6d839-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"headline":"Golden Knights were the NHL’s best 3rd-period team until 2 Hurricanes comebacks","datePublished":"2026-06-07T23:37:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145"},"wordCount":927,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ac481097df42ea9c3d2e972b3a79407c-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145","name":"Golden Knights were the NHL's best 3rd-period team until 2 Hurricanes comebacks - Moving Insider USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ac481097df42ea9c3d2e972b3a79407c-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-07T23:37:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ac481097df42ea9c3d2e972b3a79407c-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ac481097df42ea9c3d2e972b3a79407c-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Carolina Hurricanes left wing Jordan Martinook (48) reacts after Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore scored during the the second overtime in Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series , Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo\/Candice Ward)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3145#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Golden Knights were the NHL’s best 3rd-period team until 2 Hurricanes comebacks"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/","name":"Moving Insider USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}