LAS VEGAS — Shea Theodore has dealt with his share of crazy caroms off the end boards at T-Mobile Arena over the years. That proved to be a big advantage for the Vegas Golden Knights defenseman in the second overtime of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night.
Theodore blasted a slap shot from inside the blue that went wide of the right post but bounced straight off the boards, then off the back of the skate of Carolina goalie Brandon Bussi and into the net to give Vegas a wild 5-4 victory and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“At that point of overtime, you’re just trying to get anything to the net and kind of hope for a bounce, and luckily we got one,” Theodore said.
The wacky bounce was a fitting ending to a game with bizarre, record-setting twists and turns.
Mitch Marner recorded the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup history in the second period after Tomas Hertl scored a power-play goal to give Vegas a seemingly comfortable 4-0 lead. Marner scored three times in the span of 6:10, besting the mark for the fastest hat trick of 6:21 in Game 1 of the 1957 Stanley Cup Final set by the Montreal Canadiens’ Maurice “The Rocket” Richard against the Boston Bruins.
Marner, who had an assist in addition to his natural hat trick, leads the NHL with 28 playoff points, surpassing Jack Eichel’s team record for points in a playoff (26) set in 2023 when the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup.
But the Hurricanes weren’t done. Jordan Martinook, Taylor Hall and Jordan Staal scored for Carolina, all in a 39-second span midway through the third period to cut the lead to 4-3, marking the fastest three goals by one team in Stanley Cup Final history. Andrei Svechnikov forced overtime with a power-play goal with 1:42 remaining to cap the first four-goal comeback by a team in Stanley Cup Final history.
That set the stage for Theodore’s game-winner 5:38 into double overtime.
“Definitely a tough kick in the you know what,” Carolina captain Jordan Staal said.
According to ESPN Insights, the winner of Game 3 in a best-of-seven series tied 1-1 in the Stanley Cup Final has gone on to win the series 77% of the time. Game 4 is Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
“I’ve experienced a lot of games in playoffs, but I’ve never experienced one like this,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “Where we couldn’t do nothing wrong in the second period, and probably did everything wrong in the third period. It just comes and goes so quickly.”
“Chaotic, a little bit,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Tough way to lose a game, but they’re all tough. It is what it is. We have to bounce back, and we always have, and I’m not worried about that.”
Bussi replaced Frederik Andersen, who stopped 12 of 16 shots, at the start of the third period and made 18 saves on 19 shots for Carolina, which lost for the first time in seven road playoff games (6-1). The Hurricanes had been 6-0 in overtime during this playoff run.
“Gave us a boost,” Brind’Amour said of his goalie switch. “Tough break at the end because he was playing great.”
Following a tight-checking first period that saw Vegas held to just two shots, including none over the final 15:13, the Golden Knights took charge in the second period, scoring four times in the span of 6:26.
It could have been worse for the Hurricanes. Vegas had goals by Mark Stone and Eichel both waved off in the first four minutes. Stone’s goal was taken off the board following a coaches’ challenge by Carolina that found the Knights’ Brett Howden was inches offside on the play. Eichel’s tap-in in front of the net was ruled a no-goal because Ivan Barbashev hit Anderson in the head while skating across the top of the blue paint.
It didn’t matter. Hertl made it 1-0 at the 10:26 mark with a power-play goal after the Hurricanes picked up a penalty for too many men on the ice. Hertl one-timed an Eichel pass from behind the net into the low slot for his fifth playoff goal.
Just 16 seconds later, Marner scooped up a rebound of a William Karlsson shot by the right board and backhanded a shot into the low slot that Carolina defenseman Sean Walker redirected past Andersen and inside the far left post.
Less than four minutes later, Marner, just seconds after hitting the post on a breakway, extended the lead to 3-0 when he wrapped in a backhand shot around Andersen’s right pad.
Marner then completed his natural hat trick at the 16:52 mark with his 10th goal of the playoffs, breaking down the right wing and blasting a slap shot from the top of the right circle past Andersen’s blocker side.
“I can’t do it by myself, that’s for sure,” Marner said in a television interview between periods. “All five guys have been on a great page. I’ve liked our line’s play for the last month.”
Marner had a chance to score four straight goals when he was awarded a penalty shot early in the third period after being slashed by Sebastian Aho on a clean breakaway. However, Bussi deflected his backhand try past the left post.
Bussi’s save seemed to inspire the Hurricanes, who a few minutes later exploded for goals by Martinook and Hall, both on wrist shots, and a tip-in by Staal of a Jaccob Slavin shot, all in the span of 39 seconds from 7:03 to 7:42 into the period, to cut the lead to 4-3.
Theodore picked up a delay of game penalty for firing the puck into the stands with 2:55 remaining. On the power play, Svechnikov scooped in a loose puck in the middle of the crease during a goalmouth scrum to force overtime.
“I knew we were eventually going to get back in the game, give us a chance to win, but you can’t make those mistakes in the second period,” Brind’Amour said. “You get no moral victories this time of year.”
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