The visitors have been making themselves at home this postseason, going 40-36 across the first three rounds of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, good for a .526 win percentage, which is the fourth-best mark for road teams since the 1897-80 campaign. The Carolina Hurricanes are 12-1 this postseason, and their line loss was Game 1 at home last round to Montreal.
That means things are lining up well for the visiting Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday when the NHL Stanley Cup Final kicks off at 8 p.m. ET in Raleigh N.C. The Golden Knights won the Western Conference and are 6-2 on the road this postseason, including Games 1 and 2 over Colorado in the Western Conference Final. The Golden Knights have outscored their opponents 33-19 in those eight road games.
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The Golden Knights have been on fire since the franchise fired Bruce Cassidy in favor of John Tortorella in late March, going 19-4-1, including the postseason. They’ve won six straight games entering Game 1 of the Final. If Vegas wins this series and hoists the Cup, it’d be the eight team to win it all after firing a coach during the season, and the first since the 2018-19 St. Louis Blues.
Vegas is aiming for its second Stanley Cup in four years, but it’s been a lot longer for Carolina, which last won in 2006. At that point, Rod Brind’Amour was the team’s captain. Now, he’s the head coach of the Hurricanes and is in his eighth season behind the bench. The Canes haven’t appeared in the Stanley Cup Final since winning it all in 2006.
The Hurricanes, who are 12-1 this postseason, advanced with a five-game victory over the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Final. After a series-opening 6-2 loss at home that followed an 11-day layoff, Carolina posted back-to-back overtime wins before outscoring Montreal 10-1 over the final two contests.
Vegas and Carolina are meeting in the postseason for the first time. The Golden Knights won both regular-season matchups, defeating the Hurricanes 4-1 at home on Oct. 20 and 6-3 in Carolina eight days later. Jack Eichel and Pavel Dorofeyev both recorded three goals for Vegas, with the former also notching an assist, Ivan Barbashev netted one tally and set up three others, and Mitch Marner registered four assists. Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes.
Marner enters the 2026 Stanley Cup Final as the postseason scoring leader with 21 points and Eichel is second with 18 while Dorofeyev and teammate Brett Howden are tied for first with 10 goals apiece. They’ll be going up against Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen, who leads the playoffs in goals-against average (1.41) and shutouts (three) while ranking third in save percentage (.931).
The NHL betting odds at the major sportsbooks see the Hurricanes as favorites in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, as they are listed in the -150 to -155 range. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights are priced between +125 and +130. Carolina scored first in all five games of the Eastern Conference Final and is -130 at DraftKings Sportsbook to extend its streak on Tuesday. Learn how to read betting odds here.
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STANLEY CUP FINAL GAME 1 |
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TEAM |
DRAFTKINGS |
FANDUEL |
CAESARS |
BETMGM |
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Carolina Hurricanes |
-155 |
-154 |
-155 |
-150 |
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Vegas Golden Knights |
+130 |
+128 |
+130 |
+125 |
Hurricanes vs. Golden Knights Game 1 best bets
Mark Stone — 1+ points (-113, FanDuel)
Stone enters the Stanley Cup Final with a four-game point streak during which he has collected three goals and two assists. Since returning from a five-game absence due to a lower-body injury, Vegas’ 34-year-old captain has netted a pair of tallies and set up another over two contests. Playing under Tortorella apparently agrees with Stone as he has landed on the scoresheet in nine of his 11 outings this postseason after having notched at least one point in six of the Golden Knights’ eight regular-season contests following their coaching change. He raised his level of play offensively the last time Vegas was in the Final, factoring in on the scoring in each of the five games against the Florida Panthers in 2023 as he amassed nine points (five goals, four assists), and I expect him to do so again on Tuesday.
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Logan Stankoven — Anytime goal scorer (+250, DraftKings)
Stankoven scored in five of his final eight regular-season games and remained hot once the playoffs began, tallying in each of Carolina’s first five contests. Then the 23-year-old center cooled off as he recorded just one goal over his next six outings, but he appears to be catching fire again. Stankoven, who trails Dorofeyev and Howden by one tally for the postseason lead, converted in both of the Hurricanes’ final two conference final games against the Canadiens. His goal in the clinching Game 5 was his third game-winner of these playoffs, tying him with Howden for first in the NHL. Stankoven scored in Carolina’s final second-round contest against the Philadelphia Flyers but failed to tally in the first three games versus Montreal. I believe the long period of inactivity between series affected him, and since the Hurricanes will have had only three days off before facing Vegas, I think he’ll pick up where he left off.
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