Carolina Hurricanes Win 2026 Stanley Cup

Jaccob Slavin (Colorado College) and Jackson Blake (North Dakota) both assisted on the first goal of the game early in the first period by Taylor Hall, before Blake added an insurance marker of his own in the second stanza as the Carolina Hurricanes cliched their first Stanley Cup championship in 20 years with a 3-0 blanking of the host Vegas Golden Knights tonight in Game Six of the 2026 NHL championship series. Eastern Conference champion Carolina won the best-of-seven title series, four games to two.

Brandon Bussi (Western Michigan) stopped all 22 shots he faced in winning his third game of the series for the Hurricanes, who last claimed the Stanley Cup in 2006, their first-ever NHL championship after moving from Hartford in 1997. Head coach Rod Brind'Amour (Michigan State) was the captain of that Carolina team, and becomes the seventh individual in NHL history to win the Cup as both a player and a coach with the same franchise. Bussi is the first NHL goaltender to make his first career playoff starts in the Stanley Cup Final, and won all three, leading the ‘Canes to the crown after a two games-to-one deficit in the series.

Other former NCAA players who suited up for Carolina in the clinching contest tonight included Shayne Gostisbehere (Union), Mark Jankowski (Providence), K’Andre Miller (Wisconsin), Eric Robinson (Princeton) and Sean Walker (Bowling Green). Nikolaj Ehlers added an empty-net goal in the final two minutes, after opening the series scoring back in the first minute of Game One. The Hurricanes outshot the Golden Knights, 23-22, on the night, and also won 33 of 63 faceoffs in what turned out to be the final NHL contest of the 2025-26 campaign.

Michigan, Quinnipiac Make 2023 Frozen Four

The final two spots in the 2023 NCAA Men's Division I Frozen Four have been claimed by second-ranked Michigan and No. 3 Quinnipiac. Both schools won their regional finals on Sunday to advance to the national semifinals in Florida early next month.

Michigan outlasted Big Ten rival Penn State, 2-1, as Mackie Samoskevich scored 52 seconds into overtime before a sold-out crowd of 8,375 in Allentown, Pa. Hobey Baker Award finalist Adam Fantilli tied the game with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation for the Wolverines, after No. 11 Penn State took a late second-period lead on a power-play tally by Connor MacEachern. Liam Souliere finished with 41 saves for the Nittany Lions, while Erik Portillo made 31 stops for Michigan, which advanced to its second straight Frozen Four and record 27th all-time. 

Quinnipiac advanced to its third Frozen Four ever, and first since 2016 (also in Tampa), by besting Ohio State, 4-1, in Bridgeport, Conn. After the eighth-ranked Buckeyes took an early lead, the Bobcats responded with four unanswered goals, with Skyler Brind'Amour notching the game-winner and Christophe Fillion posting a goal and an assist. Hobey Baker Award finalist Yaniv Perets made 34 saves for Quinnipiac, which blanked OSU on four power plays.  

Michigan and Quinnipiac will meet in the late NCAA semifinal at Amalie Arena in Tampa around 8:30 p.m. ET on April 6, a rematch of last year's Allentown regional final that was won by the Wolverines. The first semifinal at 5 p.m. ET that afternoon will feature old foes Boston University and Minnesota, with the two semifinal winners advancing to the national title game at 8 p.m. two nights later. All three games are scheduled to be televised on ESPN2.