Jordan Staal Scores Twice as Hurricanes Win Game 4 to Level Stanley Cup Final 2-2

The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3 in Game 4 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, levelling the series at 2-2 with captain Jordan Staal scoring twice including the game-winning goal in the third period, while debutant goalie Brandon Bussi held firm when Carolina needed him most.

Staal scored twice, brought his series total to five goals in four games, and the goal that won the game was the kind of moment that ends up in highlight reels for years still forechecking Theodore into a turnover, chaos in front of the net, Staal falling to the ice and somehow getting his stick on the puck and chipping it over a diving Carter Hart while the rest of his body was already on the way down, and Carolina had the lead they needed.

The Hurricanes won 5-3 and the series is level at 2-2, with Nikolaj Ehlers adding three points and Jackson Blake contributing two more as Carolina got the road win that had been building all night despite the Golden Knights fighting back from 3-1 down to tie things at 3-3 late in the second period, with Brett Howden breaking the franchise record with his 14th playoff goal before Vegas ran out of answers in the third.

Brandon Bussi, 27 years old and making his NHL debut after years grinding through college hockey and the minor leagues, started in goal and won, becoming the first goalie since 1961 to win a playoff debut in the Stanley Cup Final, making the saves Carolina needed early and holding things together when Vegas was pushing hardest.

The Golden Knights continue to struggle badly on special teams, going scoreless on three power play chances in Game 4 and sitting at 1-for-12 on the man advantage across the entire series, which in a Final this tight is the kind of stat that keeps the Vegas coaching staff up at night. Game 5 goes Thursday in Raleigh, and the team that wins it will be one game away from the Stanley Cup.

Sportscape feels that the Jordan Staal scoring the Stanley Cup Final game-winner while falling to the ice in his 20th NHL season is the kind of story that sport produces once in a long while, and the fact that it is happening inside a series that has had the lead change hands in the third period of every single game makes the whole thing even harder to look away from whoever wins Game 5 in Raleigh on Thursday night is going to have all the momentum in the world, and based on what Staal has shown so far, betting against him in that building would be a very brave choice indeed.