Carolina erases Vegas third-period leads again, handing Golden Knights a shaken Stanley Cup Final Game 3

The Vegas Golden Knights entered the Stanley Cup Final with a reputation for controlling games late. According to Yahoo Sports, Vegas was the NHL’s best third-period team this season, until Carolina delivered two separate comeback reminders that leads can evaporate in the final frame. On Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, the Hurricanes proved that point by nearly completing the most alarming version of that script, erasing a four-goal hole and pushing the game into double overtime before falling 5-4 to Vegas.

In Game 3, Vegas looked like the team that owns momentum. Mitch Marner scored a natural hat trick in a 6:10 span of the second period, the fastest in Stanley Cup Final history, to help Vegas build a 4-0 advantage after two periods. The burst gave Vegas a lead that typically forces opponents to play desperation hockey, and it appeared to put the Hurricanes on the wrong side of their own playoff identity.

Instead, Carolina’s reply arrived in waves, and it began shortly after the third period started. After Brandon Bussi replaced Frederik Andersen to open the frame, Marner had a chance to extend the lead further when he was awarded a short-handed penalty shot at 4:04, but Bussi stopped him. From there, the Hurricanes shifted their urgency into direct scoring threats, scoring three consecutive goals in a run that turned a four-goal deficit into a one-goal game in 39 seconds.

Jordan Martinook, Taylor Hall, and Jordan Staal scored 39 seconds apart on three straight shots to make it 4-3 with 12:18 remaining. Andrei Svechnikov then tied the game on a power-play goal with Bussi pulled for an extra skater at 1:42 left in regulation. The Hurricanes became only the second team in Stanley Cup Final history to erase a four-goal deficit in a game, matching a rare feat that has already produced more dramatic losses and comebacks in the history books.

Carolina’s run did not end with the regulation tie. Shea Theodore ultimately finished it in the second overtime at 5:38, off a shot that hit the end boards and caromed past Bussi for the winner, as Vegas recovered from the emotional swing to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The result also underscored how much the Cup Final has become a momentum exchange between coaches who value structure, defense, and discipline.

Game 2 set the stage even earlier. In that matchup, Carolina erased a 2-0 third-period deficit to win 4-3 in overtime, and noted it was the first time in NHL history that teams traded multigoal comeback wins to open the Cup Final. Now the question for Tuesday’s Game 4 is whether Vegas can convert its late-game control into something more stable, or whether the Hurricanes will keep daring opponents to hold up through the final 20 minutes.

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