Even if the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes did not stand out as the cream of the crop in the NHL during the regular season, they have clearly been the best during the playoffs.
Now the hottest teams in hockey will meet for the Stanley Cup.
Vegas swept Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado in the Western Conference Final and has won 19 of 24 games since John Tortorella took over as coach in late March. Carolina has won 12 of 13 the playoffs, including four in a row to put away Montreal to reach the Cup final.
“I probably would give an edge to Vegas, but I don’t feel that secure in that,” former player-turned-NHL Network analyst Mike Rupp said. "Both teams are just playing this demonstrative way right now that it feels like it’s the right matchup here in the finals.”
The Hurricanes actually go into the series as a slight favorite, perhaps because they have home-ice advantage and have looked especially dominant. Game 1 is Tuesday night in Raleigh.
Carolina was 8-0 through two rounds with sweeps of Ottawa and Philadelphia. A wakeup call of a loss to the Canadiens could easily be attributed to rust after an 11-day layoff, and the Hurricanes have not lost since.
Vegas had some bumps getting through Utah and Anaheim, then had no trouble with the banged-up and battered Avalanche. The Golden Knights will have a full week off between rounds.
“I worry about, just you lose your edge just a little bit, that’s a big disadvantage,” Tortorella said Friday. “That’s the key for us. As a coach, you’re always worried about that. I think our players, the group is good, and I think they understand that because they’ve been in this before, most of them.”
While Carolina is in the final for the first time since 2006, when coach Rod Brind'Amour was captain, this is nothing new for the Golden Knights. They've reached the final for a third time in less than a decade of existence and a second time in the past four years, having won the Stanley Cup in 2023.
Vegas has 12 players back from that title run.
“That feeling, you want that feeling back,” said defenseman Shea Theodore, who has been with the team since the inaugural season in 2017-18. “It feels different, but I think the feeling in the locker room with the guys and how we are with one another, it feels very similar to that — that group in ’23 — how close we are, and it’s just exciting to be back.”
Mostly, a low-scoring affair. The Golden Knights and Hurricanes have allowed some of the fewest goals of all the teams in the playoffs.
“Both these teams defend at a high level,” former goalie and now NHL Network analyst Cory Schneider said. "They work at a high level. They don’t give you much room and space and time. I don’t want to say it’s going to be a boring final, but it’s definitely going to be a bit of a grind and whoever comes out on top is going to be the team that can sort of survive that grind.”
Brind'Amour's hard-working style has finally paid off in his eighth season in charge. Carolina won at least a round in each of the previous seven but had consistently failed to get over the hump.
The Hurricanes have gotten to this point despite not being an offensive powerhouse.
“So far, it’s worked, but this where they run into trouble,” Schneider said. “This is why in years past they haven’t quite broken through to the finals is because they play such a high-intensity style that it emphasizes shot quantity over quality, so that doesn’t always lead to goals. They’ll possess the puck and throw a million pucks on net, but they don’t always get great looks and high-end scoring chances and they don’t have a ton of elite finishers.”
AP Sports Writers Mark Anderson in Las Vegas and Aaron Beard in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
FILE - Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden (21) mixes it up with Carolina Hurricanes left wing Nikolaj Ehlers (27) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Oct. 28, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward, File)
FILE - Vegas Golden Knights right wing Pavel Dorofeyev (16) and Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker (26) vie for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game Oct. 28, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward, File)
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Democrats were in a more celebratory mood than usual as they gathered Friday in South Carolina, a state led almost entirely by Republicans.
Just days ago, the Republican-led state Senate shot down an effort backed by President Donald Trump to redraw the House map to oust Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina's only congressional Democrat and a party powerbroker who has been in office since 1993.
With his district still intact, Clyburn spent Friday night hosting his signature event, the “World Famous Fish Fry,” which followed the Blue Palmetto Dinner, an annual Democratic fundraiser.
"You have delivered for the people of this state and this nation in an unbelievable way,” Clyburn told a sold-out crowd at the dinner as hundreds of attendees burst into thunderous applause.
The back-to-back events often showcase potential presidential contenders. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear spoke at the dinner, and he paid tribute to Clyburn.
“I am so proud to be here with the one and only Jim Clyburn, the man so strong that South Carolina Republicans said, ‘no thanks’ to Donald Trump on redistricting,” he said.
Beshear and California Rep. Ro Khanna joined Clyburn at the fish fry as well, where thousands chowed down on hot fried fish and sipped cold drinks.
Democratic candidates from around the state wore blue “Clyburn for Congress” T-shirts as they pitched themselves to the crowd, a political ritual that showcases his influence in South Carolina. He's running for his 18th term this year.
South Carolina's primary is June 9. Voters will choose nominees for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House. Had Republicans in the state Senate not rejected the plan pushed by the White House, those congressional votes would have been canceled and a new primary scheduled under revised districts.
The state Senate vote on redistricting failed Tuesday, the first day of early voting, with some senators saying it was simply too late to change district lines.
Clyburn, who is Black, condemned the White House-led effort, which he said had been aimed at “zeroing Democratic voters, zeroing African American voters out of the process.”
“I know the state, and I am embarrassed that so many people in our legislature will allow strangers in Washington to tell them what to do, when to do it and how to do it,” Clyburn said as he cast his vote in Orangeburg on Tuesday.
The political drama in South Carolina is part of a Republican strategy to redraw voting districts to the party's advantage in an attempt to hold on to a slim House majority in the midterms. Republicans have moved quickly to try to leverage a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened the federal Voting Rights Act.
At least for now, Clyburn's 6th congressional district has been preserved, as has his place as the Democrat to whom White House hopefuls look for guidance in navigating the state's electorate.
During the 2020 primary, Clyburn provided a crucial endorsement to Joe Biden, helping him demonstrate strength among Black voters and catapulting him to the Democratic nomination. On Friday night, Clyburn told reporters he was “open” to endorsing a presidential candidate in 2028.
But Clyburn, among the oldest Democrats serving in Washington, has called it an “open question” as to whether his next term could be his last. Whenever he leaves office, the Democratic field looking to replace him is anticipated to be massive.
The conclusion of November's midterm elections will mark the unofficial start to a 2028 presidential primary season. Although the order of states for Democrats' primaries won't be set for months, the battle for attention has already begun in a variety of places that could play a pivotal role.
On Thursday, Democratic chairs in five southern states wrote a letter to Democratic National Committee officials urging them to again pick South Carolina to go first.
However, party leaders here have braced for a different spot on the calendar, saying they wouldn't see it as a loss if another state got the leadoff spot.
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, center, speaks to reporters as U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., look on, ahead of remarks at Clyburn's "World Famous Fish Fry" event on Friday, May 29, 2026, in Columbia S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., left, speaks to attendees at his "World Famous Fish Fry" as U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky look on, on Friday, May 29, 2026, in Columbia S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky speaks to attendees at the South Carolina Democratic Party's Blue Palmetto Dinner on Friday, May 29, 2026, in Columbia S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., speaks to attendees at the South Carolina Democratic Party's Blue Palmetto Dinner on Friday, May 29, 2026, in Columbia S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., speaks to reporters ahead of remarks at his "World Famous Fish Fry" event on Friday, May 29, 2026, in Columbia S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
FILE - Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear attends the National Action Network (NAN) Convention in New York, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, File)
FILE - Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., speaks to attendees at his World Famous Fish Fry, May 30, 2025, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)
