TC Martin

Its Knight Time to Win in Overtime   

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To say there has been some craziness in this Stanley Cup Finals would be a severe understatement. 

 

After three games we have seen goals galore and comebacks of historic fashion by both teams with each game being decided by either the final shot of the contest or coming down to the final horn.  Each game has seen the drama and the unpredictability which we love about the Stanley Cup Finals. 

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Game 3 may have been the ultimate shocker yet.  After a scoreless first period, the Vegas Golden Knights erupted for four goals in a 6:26 span in the second period.  Mitch Marner led the way with three of them, all coming in succession.  After the final one, the ice at T-Mobile Arenas was covered with hats after Marner pulled off an amazing Stanley Cup Finals hat trick.  

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However, that was only part of the drama.  What came next was totally unexpected.  The Carolina Hurricanes looked dead in the desert as they showed no life or offense of any kind in the first 40 minutes. 

 

Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour made a goalie change in pulling starter Frederick Anderson in favor of backup Brandon Bussi.  Bussi hadn't appeared in a game since April 14th which the final regular season game for Carolina.  He never sniffed the ice in the playoffs until now.  He ended up saving 18 of the 19 shots he faced.  Unfortunately, the one he couldn't save turned out not be his own fault in a wacky bounce that tuned out to be the game winner for the Knights. 

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Vegas won 5-4 in double overtime after blowing the four-goal lead they built in that exciting second period.  The Hurricanes came storming back scoring four goals of their own to tie the game with 1:42 remaining to force overtime.  Their first three goals came in the matter of :39 in the third period.  That's right another one of the several records we have seen so far in these Finals.

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From what looked like a rout by Vegas and a conceding by Carolina turned out to be one of the best games we have seen in Cup history.  It ended in even crazier fashion.  A shot by Shea Theodore went wide of the goal and hit off the board and then off of the skate of Bussi into the net. It was virtually a soccer equivalent of an own goal.  

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Game 1 was won by the Golden Knights by the same 5-4 score coming back from a two-goal deficit while scoring three unanswered goals.  Game 2 happened in the same fashion, but it was Carolina who trailed 2-0 and then scored three straight times to win 4-3 which included a game winner my Seth Jarvis in overtime. 

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After what we saw in Game 3 or in any of these contests, nothing should be taken for granted or be considered unexpected.  Don't turn away from the television or heaven forbid leave the arena early as you never know what will occur next between these two evenly matched teams.  

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Game 4 is back in Vegas on Tuesday with the Golden Knights leading the best of seven series 2-1.  Buckle up for more excitement. 

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