Up to the beginning of the 3rd Period in Game 2, there were two overriding themes for the 2025-26 NHL Stanley Cup Final: Vegas center Brett Howden can’t stop scoring and the Golden Knights can’t stop winning. But then the Hurricanes staged a remarkable comeback, winning 4-3 in overtime to even the championship series at one game apiece.
The Golden Knights had their seven-game postseason win streak smashed Thursday night after leading 2-0 at the second intermission. But as fortune would have it, the Hurricanes leave North Carolina with renewed hope, even if they no longer possess home-ice advantage. The action now moves to T-Mobile Arena in Vegas, where VGK and Carolina will face-off in a crucial Game 3 on Saturday afternoon at 5:00 local time.
Just when it seemed that Kalshi would be proven wrong for a second straight SCF game, the Hurricanes turned it all around in just a few minutes. The opening Game 3 odds have Carolina back in the driver’s seat with a slight 53% edge as a favorite to take the series lead this Saturday.
Near the end of Game 2, it looked like Vegas was going to run away with the championship and potentially wrap up the series by midweek. The Stanley Cup is there for the taking now, though. We still like the Golden Knights to win it all, but the 3rd Period comeback by the Hurricanes can’t be ignored if you’re a serious trader looking for value.
If you can get the Golden Knights to win Game 3 for under 50 cents, that’s the way to go in our view. However, if the Hurricanes happen to drop below 51 cents on prediction markets, we could be swayed in the other direction. So far, the Stanley Cup Final has proven to be highly entertaining, with two nail-biters already in the books leading into Saturday night’s action.
Hockey fans are thrilled with the competitive nature of the Stanley Cup Final so far – which is a good thing considering how much some media outlets were criticizing the matchup last week. Can Brett Howden continue his scoring streak in the playoffs? Can the Hurricanes manage to “steal” a game at T-Mobile Arena before the series heads back to Raleigh?
These are both intriguing questions. There’s also a chink in the armor when it comes to VGK goaltending, with the blocker-side vulnerability of Carter Hart still being talked about. And if you watched Game 2 live, you saw the Golden Knights lose a controversial replay that would have given them another goal near the end of regulation.
It’s obvious that Kalshi traders don’t quite know what to do about the moneyline for either team ahead of Saturday night’s Game 3. So far in the series, Carolina has been the favorite among forecasters who are selecting a simple “yes/no” option for a team’s win or loss. Now that Vegas enjoys home ice advantage, it’s almost a toss-up on the Kalshi app.
Game 3 will be televised on ABC, with a start time scheduled for 5:00pm local time – a bit earlier than the first two games. Whichever team wins Saturday night will almost certainly be considered as the “favorite” to hoist the Stanley Cup.
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