Stanley Cup Final 2026 Tied at 2-2: Jordan Staal, Brandon Bussi, and What Game 5 in Raleigh Means

Carolina Has Flipped the Stanley Cup Final Completely

What looked like a Golden Knights series in the making is now anyone's championship to win. The Carolina Hurricanes beat Vegas 5-3 in Game 4 on June 9, with Jordan Staal scoring twice and Brandon Bussi making his first career NHL playoff start in one of the most improbable goaltending performances in modern Finals history. The series is tied 2-2. Game 5 is in Raleigh. Everything has changed.

The betting market had Vegas as mild favorites entering Game 4. Those lines are getting reset across the board, and for good reason.

The Staal Factor: A Veteran Defining His Legacy

Jordan Staal has now scored in each of the first four games of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final. He is the ninth player in NHL history to accomplish that feat and the first in 44 years. That is not a coincidence or a hot streak that will regress to the mean. Staal is playing the best hockey of his career at age 37, and his goal to put the Hurricanes ahead for good in the third period of Game 4 was a microcosm of everything that makes veteran presence invaluable in playoff hockey.

The go-ahead goal itself, scored while stretched out on his stomach after a scramble in front of the Vegas net, was the kind of moment that changes series. When a 37-year-old captain throws himself to the ice and puts the puck in the net, it sends a message to every player in the locker room. The Hurricanes did not flinch when Vegas rallied from 3-1 down to tie it 3-3. They answered.

Nikolaj Ehlers (three points), Jackson Blake (goal and an assist), and Logan Stankoven also scored, giving Carolina a balanced offensive attack that the Golden Knights could not contain over 60 minutes.

The Bussi Story Changes Everything We Thought We Knew About This Series

Brandon Bussi had never started an NHL playoff game before Game 4. He made 18 saves, won the game, and became the first goaltender since 1961 to win his playoff debut in the Stanley Cup Final. That sentence belongs in a different era of hockey history. It happened on June 9, 2026, in T-Mobile Arena, and it fundamentally alters the Hurricanes' goaltending calculus for the rest of this series.

Frederik Andersen's absence had been the primary worry for Carolina entering this series. The Hurricanes were seen as the weaker team between the pipes, with Vegas's experience and Adin Hill providing a structural advantage. Bussi's performance does not eliminate that concern entirely, but it proves the Hurricanes have a viable starter capable of rising to the occasion at the highest level. That matters enormously for Game 5 and potentially beyond.

For bettors who had the Golden Knights' goaltending advantage priced into their series picks, that edge is now significantly smaller than it was 48 hours ago.

Vegas's Counterperformance: William Karlsson, Mark Stone, and a Resilient Comeback

The Golden Knights trailed 3-1 after the first period before rallying to tie the game 3-3. William Karlsson had a goal and an assist. Mark Stone and Brett Howden also scored. Vegas showed exactly the kind of character that made them Stanley Cup champions previously, and the comeback from a multi-goal deficit is not something a lesser team accomplishes.

The problem for Vegas is that Staal answered every rally. The Golden Knights' ability to respond in tight situations is real, but their inability to hold third-period leads, which has been a thread running through this series, is costing them games when it matters most.

Betting the 2-2 Series: What the Numbers Say Now

With the series tied and heading back to Raleigh for Game 5, the Hurricanes now hold genuine home-ice advantage at a critical moment. Lenovo Center has been a fortress for Carolina throughout the 2026 playoffs, and the crowd factor in a series-shifting Game 5 is substantial.

Most books have the Hurricanes as slight favorites in Game 5, currently landing around -115 to -130 depending on the book. That is a fair reflection of home ice plus Bussi's momentum, though backing Vegas as a live underdog around +110 is defensible given their ability to generate offense and Adin Hill's experience in elimination-adjacent situations.

For series betting, this has become a genuine coin flip. The team that wins Game 5 takes the series lead and, historically, teams that win Game 5 in tied series go on to win the Cup at a rate well above 70 percent. Carolina winning Game 5 and controlling the momentum at +120 to +140 on series futures is the high-value play available right now.

DFS Approach for Game 5 in Raleigh

Staal is the must-stack anchor for any Hurricanes-heavy DFS lineup given his consistency and his shot-generation role on the power play. Ehlers, who has been producing at a point-per-game pace in this series, is the second essential piece on Carolina's side.

On the Vegas side, Karlsson and Stone represent the primary value plays. Both drive production even in losses, and their usage rates at even-strength and on the power play ensure floor protection in DFS formats. Adin Hill's starts also make him a viable goaltending play in DFS if Vegas has favorable goaltender metrics entering the game.

The series is now a best-of-three. Every game from this point forward carries Stanley Cup Final stakes in the most literal sense. That pressure reveals character, and both of these teams have demonstrated they have it.

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