At long last, the Carolina Hurricanes are headed to the Stanley Cup Final.
The franchise’s first appearance in the title round has been a long time coming. The last time the Canes played for a Cup came two decades ago in 2006, when the team hoisted it for the first and only time in club history. After now making eight consecutive postseason appearances under head coach Rod Brind’Amour with four Eastern Conference Final berths in that span, Carolina now has the chance to play for the big one.
In the Stanley Cup champion market on DraftKings Sportsbook, the Hurricanes are listed at -155 odds to win it all. The opposing Vegas Golden Knights are listed at +130.
It should come as no shock that Carolina is favored heading into this series. The Hurricanes finished the regular season with 113 points and a goal differential of +56, both the top marks in the Eastern Conference. While the path they faced through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was admittedly fairly soft, they handed business incredibly well with back-to-back sweeps over the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers. In the Eastern Conference Final, they dropped the opening game before rattling off four consecutive victories against an excellent Montreal Canadiens team.
After going 12-1 through the postseason thus far, the Canes became the first team in NHL history to reach the Stanley Cup Final with only one loss in the first three rounds. It’s been a historic run so far to say the least.
With netminder Frederik Andersen producing an incredible 1.41 GAA and .931 SV% through the playoffs so far, the Hurricanes have a scorching-hot goalie — exactly what most Cup contenders bring into the final round. The skaters’ higher-end production has largely come from the trio of Taylor Hall (16 points), Jackson Black (15 points) and Logan Stankoven (12 points), the latter of whose nine goals are a team high and second most among all players this postseason. Stars Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis continue to play key roles alongside Nikolaj Ehlers and more.
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final begins Tuesday, June 2 at 8 p.m. ET in Raleigh.
