Canes can end Stanley Cup Final today: ‘We’ve got to put our best foot forward’
Are the Carolina Hurricanes poised to take the final step?
That was the question as the Canes practiced Saturday before their flight to Las Vegas and Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday against the Golden Knights.
The Canes, with a 3-2 lead in the series, want to end it quickly, win Game 6 and bring the Cup back to Raleigh. They also realize they can’t get ahead of themselves, that the season-long mission is not complete.
“We want to take advantage of it, and we’ve got to put our best foot forward,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Saturday after the practice session at Invisalign Arena. “That’s really the message.”
The Golden Knights will be at home at T-Mobile Arena, facing an end to their season and their quest for a Cup if they can’t find a way to turn back the Hurricanes in Game 6.
After the 4-2 loss to the Canes in Game 5 at Lenovo Center, Vegas coach John Tortorella tersely said, “We’ll be back. I’m leaving my clothes here. We’ll be back.”
Meaning for a Game 7. Maybe Tortorella left his luggage at the Umstead or not, but he has remained insistent his team would win at home, make the long trek back and decide it all in a Game 7 at Lenovo Center.
The Hurricanes had a full complement of players at the Saturday practice, including goaltender Frederik Andersen. Brind’Amour, in talking about the Game 6 lineup, again said “everybody’s available” and could play.
Andersen was pulled out of Game 3 in Las Vegas and has not suited up for a game as Brandon Bussi took over as the starter and Pyotr Kochetkov served as the backup in Games 4 & 5.
Asked Saturday about Andersen, Brind’Amour did not rule out Andersen being Bussi’s backup for Game 6.
The lines Saturday had Sebastian Aho centering Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Martinook, and Jordan Staal between Nikolaj Ehlers and Seth Jarvis. Brind’Amour said after Game 4 that those combinations felt right and might stick with them, noting Martinook is the kind of player who always brings added energy to his line.
It was Martinook’s energy and hard forechecking in Game 5 that led to the game-winning goal by Aho, the center’s first of the Cup Final.
How much does he help the line?
“Ask them. I don’t think that I have,” Martinook said Saturday, smiling. “Those guys want it so bad, as do I, and I think you’re just doing everything you can.”
Canes forward Jackson Blake, at 22, is doing all he can. The winger has six goals and 18 points in the playoffs, tying linemate Taylor Hall for the team points lead.
Blake’s father, Jason, is a former NHL forward who has long critiqued all of his son’s games and has continued in the Cup Final, with a different twist.
“Obviously there’s always stuff that I can work on that stands out to him,” Blake said Saturday. “But he knows how tight it is out there and how good the other team is.
“He always says you’ve got to have fun with it and enjoy it. I think he’s just happy and proud to be along on the journey.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2026 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Canes can end Stanley Cup Final today: ‘We’ve got to put our best foot forward’."
