The Golden Knights find themselves in a familiar playoff position, needing to win two of the next three games in the Stanley Cup Final against the Hurricanes. They face challenges, including playing potentially two games in Carolina. Jack Eichel, despite having 20 postseason points, has struggled to score recently. Goalie Carter Hart's performance has dipped, with a lower save percentage against Carolina. Special teams also have faltered, with power play and penalty kill percentages dropping significantly. The Knights need to address these issues to secure their second Cup in four seasons.

Peter Laviolette will be the next head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Kings hadn’t yet announced the results of their search for a permanent replacement for interim coach D.J. Smith, who replaced Jim Hiller in March. The 61-year-old Laviolette will take over his seventh NHL team when he joins the Kings, who have made the playoffs in five consecutive seasons. But they've also endured five straight first-round exits under three head coaches.

The Stanley Cup Final was less than 15 minutes away from looking lopsided in favor of the Vegas Golden Knights. Then the Carolina Hurricanes looked like the powerhouse they've been all season and playoffs, rallying to win Game 2 and making this a competitive series between two of the best teams in the NHL. Game 3 is Saturday in Las Vegas. If it is anything like the first two, expect the unexpected. This is the first Cup final in league history in which each of the first two games featured a team erasing a multigoal deficit to win.

The Carolina Hurricanes head into Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights with a perfect 6-0 record in both road and overtime games in the playoffs. The Hurricanes are coming off a comeback OT win in Thursday's Game 2 after trailing 2-0 in the third period. That marked the Hurricanes' 13th consecutive win when coming off a loss, a streak that goes back to mid-January. Vegas took Game 1 on the road 5-4. Game 3 is Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen continued his strong postseason in net in an emotional win that pushed the Eastern Conference's top seed to the Stanley Cup Final. Andersen carried a shutout into the third period of Friday night's 6-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens to close out the Eastern Conference Final in five games. That came a day after learning that his agent and former NHL playing great Claude Lemieux died after taking his own life.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Rod Brind'Amour wore a big smile as he walked on the ice to join his Carolina Hurricanes for a photo behind the Prince of…