The first Stanley Cup Final in NHL history where each team earned a multi-goal comeback win through the first two games shifts from Raleigh to Las Vegas for a pivotal Game 3 tonight when the Hurricanes and Golden Knights joust for a 2-1 series lead.
* When a best-of-seven Final is tied 1-1, the Game 3 victor goes on to win the series nearly 80% of the time (24-7; .774) including a 10-5 (.667) record for the home team and a 14-2 (.875) mark by the road club. More trends can be found in Saturday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates.
* A couple of Canadiens stars surprised each other in the Montreal locker room with the Frank J. Selke and Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.
* The 2026 NHL Scouting Combine presented by Fanatics will conclude Saturday with fitness testing to close out a full week of meetings with clubs, media interviews, photoshoots and more.
ENTERTAINING SERIES SHIFTS TO the “ENTERTAINMENT CAPITAL OF THE WORLD”
Seth Jarvis and the Hurricanes are set to visit Brett Howden and the Golden Knights as the 2026 Stanley Cup Final shifts to T-Mobile Arena for Game 3 tonight after each of the championship series’ first two contests featuring thrilling finishes with 16 combined tallies, five tying markers and both teams earning a multi-goal comeback win.
* The tight games, momentum swings and unpredictability that overtime hero Jarvis mentioned during his media availability Thursday have been hallmarks of the Final dating to Mark Stone’s Cup-clinching hat trick in 2023, which was the last time T-Mobile Arena hosted a contest during the championship series. The 2024 Final saw the Oilers force a Game 7 after facing a 3-0 series deficit, while the 2025 one featured late tying tallies and overtime heroics that have continued into this year’s championship round.
* Howden paces all players with three goals through the first two games of the Final and leads the League with 13 tallies in 18 contests this postseason, which are one more than his 58-game total of 12 from the regular season. He can become the sixth player over the last 40 years with four goals through the first three games in a championship series after Sam Bennett (4 in 2025 SCF), Brad Marchand (4 in 2025 SCF), Jonathan Marchessault (4 in 2023 SCF), Jake Guentzel (4 in 2017 SCF) and Mario Lemieux (4 in 1992 SCF). The most by an NHL player is held by Alf Skinner (7 in 1918 SCF), while skaters with non-NHL teams account for three of the nine instances of five or more.
* Jordan Staal scored a goal in each of the Final’s first two games and fellow captain Stone had the tying tallying with 1:21 remaining in regulation Thursday. Staal captured the Cup with the 2009 Penguins and can surpass Chris Chelios (16 from 1986 MTL to 2002 DET) for the most years from one championship to the next in NHL history (17), while Stone can become the first player in the League’s modern era (since 1944) to serve as a franchise’s first captain and also captain the club to each of its first two titles. Staal can join one of Chelios’ longtime teammates as the NHL’s second captain with goals in each of a Final’s first three games.
NHL EDGE stats through the first two games of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final
Highlights from the first two contests of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final through the lens of NHL EDGE Puck and Player Tracking technology:
* Seth Jarvis’ overtime winner in Game 2 was clocked with a shot speed of 80.05 mph, the second hardest resulting in a goal during the championship round behind Nikolaj Ehlers from when he opened the scoring just 25 seconds into the first period Tuesday (84.63 mph). NHL in ASL, the three-time Sports Emmy-nominated alternate telecast dedicated completely to the Deaf and hard of hearing community using American Sign Language, captured the series-tying goal. The NHL in partnership with P-X-P will produce every game of the Final and the telecasts are available to stream exclusively on the ESPN App for ESPN Unlimited plan subscribers in the U.S. as well as on Sportsnet+ in Canada.
* Brett Howden and Mark Jankowski had goals in Game 2 which featured alley-oop assists by Mitch Marner and Eric Robinson, respectively. Marner’s helper covered 91.3 feet while airborne and had a max height of 24.0 feet, while Robinson’s spanned 82.2 feet in the air and featured an apex of 19.7 feet.
* Robinson was clocked with a 23.53 mph speed burst when he attempted to negate an icing call just before Jankowski’s goal, which marked the fastest of the Final and one of the quickest this postseason. Alexander Nikishin’s blast at 14:17 of the third period in Game 1 was the hardest shot speed of the championship series so far (94.59 mph).
* Before Game 3, GRAMMY-nominated multi-platinum artist, producer and songwriter ILLENIUM will headline a free concert on Toshiba Plaza outside T-Mobile Arena. The performance will begin at 3:00 p.m. PT.
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COUPLE OF CANADIENS CAPTURE FRANK J. SELKE, LADY BYNG MEMORIAL TROPHY
Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield were named the 2025-26 recipient of the Frank J. Selke and Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, respectively, after Suzuki believed that he was surprising Caufield with the Lady Byng inside the Montreal locker room while not knowing that Caufield also was surprising him with the Selke.
* Suzuki joined Canadiens greats Bob Gainey and Guy Carbonneau as the franchise’s third winner of the Selke Trophy, which recognizes “the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game” as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Gainey captured the award in each of the first four seasons it was presented (1977-78 through 1980-81), while Carbonneau claimed it three times (1987-88, 1988-89 & 1991-92).
Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki Wins Selke Trophy
* Caufield joined Mats Naslund (1987-88) and Toe Blake (1945-46) as Montreal’s third player to win the Lady Byng since it was first presented in 1924-25. The award goes “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability” as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
Canadiens’ Cole Caufield Wins Lady Byng Trophy
NHL SCOUTING COMBINE CONCLUDES SATURDAY WITH FITNESS TESTING
Gavin McKenna (No. 1-Ranked North American Skater) was one of six of the NHL top prospects who met with the media Friday before the 2026 NHL Scouting Combine presented by Fanatics concludes with fitness testing Saturday. McKenna sat alongside Keaton Verhoeff (No. 4-Ranked North American Skater), two players who played in the NCAA last season with McKenna finishing fifth in scoring across the league (15-36—51), while Verhoeff led all draft-eligible defensemen (6-14—20). Verhoeff started as a goaltender before moving to defense and didn’t play his last game in net until age 11 – when asked if he could stop a McKenna shot he joked, “I think I could get in front of it, but it wouldn’t feel too good. He’d probably go around me a couple times too.”
NHL SCOUTING COMBINE: RUDOLPH ACHIEVES ON AND OFF THE ICE
Daxon Rudolph has found much success on the ice, but as NHL.com writes from the 2026 NHL Scouting Combine presented by Fanatics, his achievements are just as impressive off it. The Prince Albert Raiders defenseman, who was a finalist for the Bill Hunt Memorial Trophy as best defenseman in the WHL in 2025-26, was also a finalist for the league’s Scholastic Player of the Year award last season – an accomplishment that made his mother, Renee, proud.
