Schedule and 2025-26 Results
Regular Season Records: Carolina 53-22-7=113pts, Vegas 39-26-17=95pts
Game 1 on Tuesday, 02 June: Vegas wins at Carolina, 5-goals-4
Game 2 on Thursday, 04 June: Vegas loses at Carolina, 4-goals-3(OT)
Game 3 on Saturday, 06 June: Carolina loses at Vegas, 5-goals-4(2OT)
Game 4 on Tuesday, 09 June: Carolina at Vegas
Game 5 on Thursday, 11 June: Vegas at Carolina
Game 6* on Sunday, 14 June: Carolina at Vegas
Game 7* on Wednesday, 17 June: Vegas at Carolina
* if needed

HISTORICAL VICTORY PROBABILITIES: Leading 2-games-1:
Ignoring win order; ignoring site order: The team leading 2-games-1 irrespective of site order (Vegas) has the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record through the 2026 NBA/NHL Semifinals round:
series record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 890-331 (.729)
series record, all best-of-7 sports, Finals round: 159-54 (.746)
series record, NHL only, all rounds: 403-180 (.691)
series record, NHL only, Finals round: 46-11 (.807)
Game 4 record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 603-618 (.494)
Game 4 record, all best-of-7 sports, Finals round: 107-106 (.502)
Game 4 record, NHL only, all rounds: 277-306 (.475)
Game 4 record, NHL only, Finals round: 30-27 (.526)
These records are drawn from the applicable 1644 best-of-7 NHL, NBA, and MLB series played through the 2026 NBA/NHL Semifinals round. Note in general that the greater the number of games or series fitting a particular situation, the greater the significance of the corresponding winning fraction: For example, 0.800 is far more likely to come closer to the true winning fraction in a given situation when the corresponding win-loss record is 400-100 rather than 4-1.

HISTORICAL VICTORY PROBABILITIES: Leading 2-games-1 @ VVH:
Ignoring win order; considering site order: The team leading 2-games-1 with site order VVH (Vegas) has the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record through the 2026 NBA/NHL Semifinals round:
series record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 280-168 (.625)
series record, all best-of-7 sports, Finals round: 43-26 (.623)
series record, NHL only, all rounds: 146-88 (.624)
series record, NHL only, Finals round: 10-6 (.625)
Game 4 record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 226-222 (.504)
Game 4 record, all best-of-7 sports, Finals round: 33-36 (.478)
Game 4 record, NHL only, all rounds: 108-126 (.462)
Game 4 record, NHL only, Finals round: 8-8 (.500)
These records are drawn from the applicable 1644 best-of-7 NHL, NBA, and MLB series played through the 2026 NBA/NHL Semifinals round. Note in general that the greater the number of games or series fitting a particular situation, the greater the significance of the corresponding winning fraction: For example, 0.800 is far more likely to come closer to the true winning fraction in a given situation when the corresponding win-loss record is 400-100 rather than 4-1.

HISTORICAL VICTORY PROBABILITIES: Leading WLW:
Considering win order; ignoring site order: The team leading WLW irrespective of site order (Vegas) has the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record through the 2026 NBA/NHL Semifinals round:
series record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 274-130 (.678)
series record, all best-of-7 sports, Finals round: 57-24 (.704)
series record, NHL only, all rounds: 121-67 (.644)
series record, NHL only, Finals round: 11-3 (.786)
Game 4 record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 206-198 (.510)
Game 4 record, all best-of-7 sports, Finals round: 36-45 (.444)
Game 4 record, NHL only, all rounds: 93-95 (.495)
Game 4 record, NHL only, Finals round: 7-7 (.500)
These records are drawn from the applicable 1644 best-of-7 NHL, NBA, and MLB series played through the 2026 NBA/NHL Semifinals round. Note in general that the greater the number of games or series fitting a particular situation, the greater the significance of the corresponding winning fraction: For example, 0.800 is far more likely to come closer to the true winning fraction in a given situation when the corresponding win-loss record is 400-100 rather than 4-1.

HISTORICAL VICTORY PROBABILITIES: Leading WLW @ VVH:
Considering win order; considering site order: The team leading WLW with site order VVH (Vegas) has the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record through the 2026 NBA/NHL Semifinals round:
series record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 109-81 (.574)
series record, all best-of-7 sports, Finals round: 15-14 (.517)
series record, NHL only, all rounds: 48-41 (.539)
series record, NHL only, Finals round: 2-2 (.500)
Game 4 record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 101-89 (.532)
Game 4 record, all best-of-7 sports, Finals round: 12-17 (.414)
Game 4 record, NHL only, all rounds: 42-47 (.472)
Game 4 record, NHL only, Finals round: 2-2 (.500)
These records are drawn from the applicable 1644 best-of-7 NHL, NBA, and MLB series played through the 2026 NBA/NHL Semifinals round. Note in general that the greater the number of games or series fitting a particular situation, the greater the significance of the corresponding winning fraction: For example, 0.800 is far more likely to come closer to the true winning fraction in a given situation when the corresponding win-loss record is 400-100 rather than 4-1.

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 3: The Vegas Golden Knights hosted and bested the Carolina Hurricanes 5-goals-4(2OT) to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1631 lead of 2-games-1. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the Vegas Golden Knights have a series record of 8-2 and a Game 4 record of 6-4. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the Carolina Hurricanes have a series record of 5-3 and a Game 4 record of 5-3. In all eight previous best-of-7 NHL playoff series in which the Carolina Hurricanes had trailed 2-games-1, their Game 4 outcome presaged their series outcome (five wins, three losses). Series 1631 Game 3 becomes the first best-of-7 NHL Finals game ever to go to overtime after a four-goal home-team lead, and the second best-of-7 NHL Finals game to be tied after a four-goal home-team lead (in series 253, the Bruins in Boston took a 5-goals-1 lead over the visiting New York Rangers, but the Rangers tied the game 5-goals-all before Boston scored at 17:44 of the third period for a 6-goals-5 win in Game 1 of the 1972 NHL Finals).

After Game 2: The Carolina Hurricanes hosted and defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-goals-3(OT) to knot best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1631 at 1-game-all. When tied 1-game-all in a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series, the Carolina Hurricanes have a series record of 7-3 and a Game 3 record of 5-5, while the Vegas Golden Knights have a series record of 9-4 (with an active five-series winning streak) and a Game 3 record of 8-5. With their series 1631 Game 2 overtime victory, the Carolina Hurricanes extend their best-of-7 NHL playoff Game 2 winning streak to four consecutive Game 2s. The Carolina Hurricanes trailed the visiting Vegas Golden Knights by two goals as late as 12:45 into the third period of series 1631 Game 2, but won: In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff games from 1939 through 2025, inclusive, home teams down two goals as late as 12:45 into the third period had a game record of only 11-434 (.025) - the Carolina Hurricanes thus achieve a grade-A (.000 - .099) in-game comeback to tie the 2026 NHL Finals at 1-game-all.

After Game 1: The Vegas Golden Knights visited and bested the Carolina Hurricanes 5-goals-4 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1631 lead of 1-game-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Vegas Golden Knights have a series record of 11-3 (with an active four-series winning streak) and a Game 2 record of 6-8. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Carolina Hurricanes have a series record of 7-9 and a Game 2 record of 7-9. With their series 1631 Game 1 victory, the Vegas Golden Knights extend their best-of-7 NHL playoff Game 1 winning streak to four consecutive Game 1s; Vegas has now won nine of their last ten Game 1s in best-of-7 NHL playoff series. The Vegas Golden Knights trailed their host Carolina Hurricanes by two goals as late as 13:27 into the first period of series 1631 Game 1, but won: In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff games from 1939 through 2025, inclusive, road teams down two goals as late as 13:27 into the first period had a game record of only 51-269 (.159) - the Vegas Golden Knights thus achieve a grade-B (.100 - .199) in-game comeback against the Carolina Hurricanes. The in-game comeback is the fifth Grade-A or Grade-B in-game comeback by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2026 NHL playoff season; the Knights twice achieved such comebacks against the Utah Mammoth, and twice against the Colorado Avalanche.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2025-26 NHL regular season, the Carolina Hurricanes finished 18 points ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights. From 1939 through the 2026 NHL Semifinals round, when NHL teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by 18 regular-season points, they have posted a best-of-7 playoff series record of 14-7 (.667) in those series against those opponents. Best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1631 is the 33rd best-of-7 NHL playoff series for the Carolina Hurricanes, and the 22nd for the Vegas Golden Knights. In best-of-7 NHL playoff series, the Carolina Hurricanes have an all-rounds series record of 21-11, a Finals-round series record of 1-1, and a Game 1 record of 16-16, while the Vegas Golden Knights have an all-rounds series record of 15-6, a Finals-round series record of 1-1, and a Game 1 record of 14-7. Series 1631 is the first best-of-7 NHL playoff series meeting between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Vegas Golden Knights. Both the Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes lost in their first trip to a best-of-7 NHL Finals series, but won in their second.