Updated

Updated · CBS Sports · Jun 14

SportsLine Model Backs Game 6 Over 5.5 in Stanley Cup Final as Hurricanes Chase 1st Title Since 2006

Updated

Updated · CBS Sports · Jun 14

SportsLine Model Backs Game 6 Over 5.5 in Stanley Cup Final as Hurricanes Chase 1st Title Since 2006

Q: Can a rookie goalie lead the Hurricanes to their first Stanley Cup win in twenty years?

Yes. Carolina is already being driven by a rookie netminder, and the evidence says Brandon Bussi has a real chance to finish the job in Game 6. Bussi has become one of the defining stories of this Final. He stepped in after Frederik Andersen’s struggles and won his first two career playoff starts on the biggest stage, helping Carolina turn a 2-1 series deficit into a 3-2 lead. In the Final, he has provided the calm, timely saves the Hurricanes needed, and his teammates and coach Rod Brind’Amour have praised his composure under pressure. His broader body of work supports the idea that this is not a fluke. In his first NHL season, Bussi went 31-6-2 with a 2.47 goals-against average and made a team-high 39 starts. Carolina also enters Game 6 with the NHL’s stingiest playoff defense, allowing just 1.62 goals per game, which reduces the burden on a young goalie and gives him a strong structure in front of him. There is also franchise precedent. Carolina’s only Stanley Cup title in 2006 was backstopped by rookie Cam Ward, who took over during that playoff run and carried the Hurricanes to the championship. That history makes the idea far less far-fetched. The challenge is obvious: Vegas is at home, facing elimination, and still has dangerous scorers such as Mark Stone, Pavel Dorofeyev and Jack Eichel. But if Bussi repeats the steady play he showed in Games 4 and 5, he can absolutely lead Carolina to its first Cup in 20 years.

3 articles · Updated · CBS Sports · Jun 14

SportsLine’s projection model ran Hurricanes-Golden Knights Game 6 10,000 times and landed on the over, projecting 6.2 total goals against a 5.5 line.
That call comes with Carolina leading the Stanley Cup Final 3-2 after two straight two-goal wins, putting the Hurricanes one victory from their first championship since 2006.
The first four games all cleared 5.5 goals; Game 5 totaled six goals but stayed under after the line rose to 6.5, making the reset to 5.5 central to the model’s pick.
Carolina is a slight -115 road favorite for Sunday’s 8 p.m. ET faceoff in Las Vegas, with Vegas at -105 as the Golden Knights try to force a Game 7.