The Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes will meet in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time when Game 1 drops the puck Monday night in Raleigh.
It is the 68th unique matchup in Stanley Cup Final history and the first meeting of division champions since 2018, according to CBS Sports. Carolina won the Stanley Cup in 2006. Vegas lifted the Cup most recently in 2023, the last time a Western Conference team won it all.
The Hurricanes enter as -152 money-line favorites in the consensus odds for Game 1, with Vegas at +127. The Over/Under for total goals is set at 5.5. Carolina is -155 on the series line to win its first championship since 2006. Vegas is +130 to claim its second Cup in three years.
The Golden Knights come in with some rust. They have not played since last Tuesday, when they swept the Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final. A sweep of the top seed in the West was a surprise, and Vegas now seeks to become only the fourth team to win at least two Stanley Cups in their first nine seasons since the expansion era began in 1967.
Carolina's Jaccob Slavin and Vegas' Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin each played for gold medal-winning Team USA at this year's Olympics in Italy. Only eight players in NHL history have won an Olympic gold medal and a Stanley Cup in the same year, and only one was American: Ken Morrow, who joined the Islanders after the 1980 Olympics. At least one player from this series will join that list.
Vegas forward Mitchell Marner leads the entire postseason with 21 points and is the +165 favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He opened the playoffs at +6600 for that award. Marner is taking the most tickets of any player on the Conn Smythe prop at BetMGM, at 17.5%. His teammate Eichel is second in the league in playoff points with 18 and is +300 to lead all players in scoring for this series, with Marner at +330. Marner, a former Toronto Maple Leaf, could become the fourth player in the modern era, since 1944, to lead the postseason in scoring during his first season with a new franchise.
Carolina head coach Rod Brind'Amour's counterpart on the Vegas bench is working toward his own piece of history. John Tortorella's 22-year gap between Stanley Cup Final appearances is the longest by any head coach in NHL history. He won the Cup in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Vegas would also become the eighth team to win a Stanley Cup after changing head coaches midseason if they complete the run.
Game 1 tips off at 8 p.m. ET on ABC from Raleigh.
