Stanley Cup 2026: Carolina's win, the Final and the Habs' run
The Carolina Hurricanes won the 2026 Stanley Cup. They beat the Vegas Golden Knights four games to two in the Final and clinched the title with a 3-0 win in Game 6 on June 14, 2026, at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada. It was Carolina's second Stanley Cup and its first since 2006. On the way, the Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 in the Eastern Conference Final.
2026 Stanley Cup at a glance
- Champion: Carolina Hurricanes (second title, after 2006).
- Finalist: Vegas Golden Knights.
- Final result: Carolina won 4-2, from June 2 to June 14, 2026.
- Conn Smythe Trophy: Jordan Staal, Carolina's captain, with 8 goals and 12 points in 19 games.
- Carolina's playoff record: 16-3, the fewest losses by a Cup winner since the 1987-88 Edmonton Oilers.
- Playoffs: April 18 to June 14, 2026, 16 teams, four best-of-seven rounds.
- Canadiens: reached the Eastern Conference Final, beating Tampa Bay and Buffalo in seven games each.
The 2026 Stanley Cup Final, game by game
Carolina had home ice because of its better regular season record (113 points to 95).
| Game | Date | Arena | Result | Winning goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tue., June 2 | Lenovo Center, Raleigh | Vegas 5, Carolina 4 | Tomáš Hertl, 3rd period |
| 2 | Thu., June 4 | Lenovo Center, Raleigh | Carolina 4, Vegas 3 (OT) | Seth Jarvis, 3:56 of OT, power play |
| 3 | Sat., June 6 | T-Mobile Arena, Paradise | Vegas 5, Carolina 4 (2OT) | Shea Theodore, 5:38 of 2nd OT |
| 4 | Tue., June 9 | T-Mobile Arena, Paradise | Carolina 5, Vegas 3 | Jordan Staal, 3rd period |
| 5 | Thu., June 11 | Lenovo Center, Raleigh | Carolina 4, Vegas 2 | Andrei Svechnikov, 2nd period |
| 6 | Sun., June 14 | T-Mobile Arena, Paradise | Carolina 3, Vegas 0 | Taylor Hall, 3:47 of the 1st |
Vegas led the series twice, after Games 1 and 3. Carolina then won three straight. In Game 3, Mitch Marner scored the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup Final history, with all three goals within 6:10.
Jordan Staal, Conn Smythe winner
Staal was named playoff MVP after Game 6. He had 8 goals and 4 assists in 19 playoff games, a career high, and led all players with 6 goals in the Final. He scored in each of the first five games of the Final, which ties the longest such streak in a Final.
At 37 years and 277 days, he is the oldest Conn Smythe winner, passing Tim Thomas (37 years and 61 days in 2011). He first won the Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009, at 20. The 17 years between his two titles are a record; the previous mark was Chris Chelios's 16 years. Staal is the second Hurricane to win the Conn Smythe, after goalie Cam Ward in 2006.
Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour, who captained the 2006 Hurricanes, became the first person since Toe Blake in 1956 to win the Cup as both a player and a coach with the same team. Blake did it with the Canadiens.
The 2026 playoff bracket
Sixteen teams qualify, eight per conference: the top three teams in each division plus two wild cards per conference, the two best remaining records. Every round is best of seven, and the team with the better regular season record gets home ice, hosting Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. The bracket is built by division, with the wild cards placed against the division winners, so Montreal met two Atlantic Division rivals, Tampa Bay and then Buffalo, before the conference final.
| Round | Eastern Conference | Western Conference |
|---|---|---|
| First round | Buffalo def. Boston 4-2 | Colorado def. Los Angeles 4-0 |
| First round | Montreal def. Tampa Bay 4-3 | Minnesota def. Dallas 4-2 |
| First round | Carolina def. Ottawa 4-0 | Vegas def. Utah 4-2 |
| First round | Philadelphia def. Pittsburgh 4-2 | Anaheim def. Edmonton 4-2 |
| Second round | Montreal def. Buffalo 4-3 | Colorado def. Minnesota 4-1 |
| Second round | Carolina def. Philadelphia 4-0 | Vegas def. Anaheim 4-2 |
| Conference final | Carolina def. Montreal 4-1 | Vegas def. Colorado 4-0 |
| Stanley Cup Final | Carolina def. Vegas 4-2 |
Carolina swept its first two rounds and opened the playoffs 8-0, the first team to do that since the four-round, best-of-seven format began in 1987. Vegas swept Colorado, the Presidents' Trophy winner, in the West final.
The Canadiens' 2026 playoff run
Montreal finished the 2025-26 regular season with 106 points, third in the Atlantic Division. Its run was built on close games.
First round, Montreal def. Tampa Bay 4-3. Four of the seven games went to overtime. Montreal won Games 1 and 3 in overtime, lost Game 6 1-0 in overtime, then won Game 7 2-1.
Second round, Montreal def. Buffalo 4-3. Buffalo, back in the playoffs after an NHL-record 14-year drought, pushed the series to seven games. Montreal won Game 7 3-2 in overtime.
Eastern Conference Final, Carolina def. Montreal 4-1.
| Game | Date | Arena | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thu., May 21 | Lenovo Center | Montreal 6, Carolina 2 |
| 2 | Sat., May 23 | Lenovo Center | Carolina 3, Montreal 2 (OT) |
| 3 | Mon., May 25 | Bell Centre | Carolina 3, Montreal 2 (OT) |
| 4 | Wed., May 27 | Bell Centre | Carolina 4, Montreal 0 |
| 5 | Fri., May 29 | Lenovo Center | Carolina 6, Montreal 1 |
Montreal's Game 1 win was Carolina's only loss before the Final. The Hurricanes entered the Final 12-1, the fewest losses at that stage since the 1975-76 Canadiens. Montreal goalie Jakub Dobeš finished the playoffs with a 2.66 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.
2026 playoff leaders
| Category | Player | Team | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | Mitch Marner | Vegas | 29 (10 goals, 19 assists) |
| Goals | Brett Howden | Vegas | 14 |
| Assists | Jack Eichel | Vegas | 20 |
| Goals-against average (min. 420 minutes) | Frederik Andersen | Carolina | 1.89, 3 shutouts |
Carolina's top scorers were Jackson Blake (20 points) and Taylor Hall (19).
Other firsts from the 2026 playoffs
- Florida, the two-time defending champion, missed the playoffs, the first defending champion to do so since the 1969-70 Canadiens.
- Toronto missed the playoffs for the first time since 2015-16.
- No team from the New York area qualified, for the first time since 1966.
- In Canada, the Final aired in English on CBC and Sportsnet and in French on TVA Sports. It was the last year of Sportsnet's 12-year national deal, and Game 6 was the last NHL game shown on CBC television.
Looking ahead to the 2027 Stanley Cup
The 2026-27 season has 84 games per team. As of November 11, 2026, Carolina leads the Eastern Conference with 30 points, and Montreal is second in the Atlantic Division with 26. Our Canadiens standings page tracks the race, the current Canadiens roster lists every player, and every remaining Habs game is in the Canadiens schedule.
A bet on next year's champion is a futures bet: the money stays tied up until June, and the odds already include the bookmaker's margin. Our Habs betting guide explains how Canadiens futures work. In Quebec, Mise-o-jeu is Loto-Québec's legal sports betting platform. Set a deposit limit before you start, and bet only what you can afford to lose.
Sources
- NHL, playoff series feed, 2025-26 season (api-web.nhle.com/v1/playoff-series/carousel/20252026): all series results.
- NHL, playoff series schedule feeds, 2025-26, series M (Eastern Conference Final) and O (Stanley Cup Final): dates, arenas, scores, overtime.
- NHL.com, "Carolina Hurricanes' Jordan Staal wins 2026 Conn Smythe Trophy", June 2026.
- Wikipedia, 2026 Stanley Cup Final (game-winning goals, coaches, broadcasts, records).
- Wikipedia, 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs (first and second round game scores, leaders, records).
- NHL, standings feed (api-web.nhle.com/v1/standings/now), standings date November 10, 2026.
Key terms
- Futures bet
- A bet on something decided way down the road, like the Stanley Cup champion, that ties up your money until it settles.
- Mise-o-jeu
- Mise-o-jeu is Loto-Québec's sports betting brand: paper slips at lottery retailers and Mise-o-jeu+ online, for players 18+ who are in Quebec.
- Deposit limit
- A cap ("limite de dépôt") you pick for how much money can go into one casino account in a day, a week or a month.