Live updates: Carolina takes 3-2 series lead into game 6 against Vegas

Red Hat Amphitheater will host a Carolina Hurricanes watch party for Game 5 on Thursday.

ABC11's DeJuan Hoggard is the emcee for the watch party.

The event is free and open to the public, rain or shine.

Gates open at 6:30 p.m. Puck drop is at 8 p.m. and will be televised on ABC11.

Planning to go? Here are a few helpful things to know:

• Leave your chairs at home - Red Hat Amphitheater has seating in Sections 1 - 7. No lawn chairs allowed nor for rent. Small blankets allowed for lawn seating.

• No outside food and beverages, no coolers - Red Hat Amphitheater will have Canes-themed items for sale at their bars, concessions, and food truck. Plus, Hollywood Taco Shop food truck and Two Roosters ice cream.

• Standard clear bag policy will be in effect

• Stay hydrated with water refill stations - attendees can bring in the gates one factory sealed bottle of water up to one gallon, or any empty reusable water bottle up to one gallon in size that can be refilled at venue water refill stations.

• Cool off with fans and cooling stations - small handheld portable fans and neck fans are allowed inside Red Hat Amphitheater. The venue will also have cooling stations with large AC electric fans.

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You would never know it by the way they're playing on the team, but undrafted Carolina Hurricanes players have become vital to teams' success.

The undrafted players in this year's Stanley Cup Final have made an impact while sharing the same stage as first-round picks such as Carolina's Taylor Hall and Vegas' Mitch Marner. However, players such as Jalen Chatfield are doing it as members of what is one of the largest and more underappreciated groups in the NHL.

Going unnoticed during the NHL draft may have actually motivated them through their journey.

Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield never got the chance to hear his name called at the NHL draft. It's been more than a decade since every team passed him by when he was eligible, and during that time, he found a way to make an impression.

He went to three different development and rookie camps across the league before eventually playing his first NHL game in January 2021 with the Vancouver Canucks.

Read full story here

"There's no guarantee that people are going to give you these opportunities," said Chatfield's agent, Darren Ferris, who also represents Hall and Marner. "When you go to these training camps, you have to earn every inch. That's what makes Jalen special. He never let being undrafted define him."

Undrafted players are among the largest concentration of players in the NHL. Nearly 15% of the players who skated in at least one game in the 2025-26 regular season were undrafted, according to ESPN Research. Those undrafted players also accounted for the third-largest group in the NHL -- the only groups with a higher percentage were first-rounders (35.65%) and second-rounders (16.09%).

Each night before the puck drops ABC11 will have a show dedicated to the Canes as they make their 2026 Stanley Cup Final run. The half-hour specials will be on TV and our streaming channel at 7:30 p.m. (EST). Caniacs can watch wherever they stream ABC11.

The puck drops at 8:00 p.m. on game nights and you can watch live on ABC11.

Download the ABC11 App for game updates and score

Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal chose the simple approach to Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final with Carolina trailing in the best-of-seven series.

But, the 20-year veteran's game-winning goal Tuesday night was anything but simple. Then again, considering how he has played against the Vegas Golden Knights in this series, perhaps it was.

With the game tied at 3 in the third period, Staal's sprawling backhand shot while in mid-air with 13:29 left beat Vegas' Carter Hart and found the back of the net for his second score of the game, and it held up as the winner in the 5-3 victory.

The series is tied at 2 and returns to Carolina for Game 5 on Thursday.

Staal, who has five goals in the series, became the first player since Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders in 1982 to score a goal in each of the first four games of the final.

Staal also tied the second-longest playoff goal streak in franchise history, behind teammate Logan Stankoven, who set the record at five earlier this postseason.

Staal has 11 points in these playoffs, including seven goals.

- The Associated Press contributed.

Jordan Staal scored his second goal of the game while stretched out on his stomach at 6:32 of the third period to put the Carolina Hurricanes ahead for good in their 5-3 victory on Tuesday night over the Vegas Golden Knights and even the Stanley Cup Final after four games.

Game 5 is Thursday night at Carolina, which will potentially have two games on home ice to win its first Cup in two decades. The Golden Knights are searching for their second in four years.

This was the first game not decided by one goal.

A two-goal lead has disappeared in all four games in what has been a remarkable series in which momentum often changes at a moment's notice. Each team has led by at least that many twice.

The 33 combined goals are tied for the third highest in a Cup final.

Jamiese Price and DeJuan Hoggard captured all the excitement at a Lenovo Center watch party, while Tom George was there as fans cheered the Canes outside Smoky Hollow.

Staal became the first player in 44 years to score at least one goal in each of the first four games of the final and the ninth overall. Mike Bossy in 1982 with the New York Islanders against the Vancouver Canucks was the last player to score in the first four games of a final.

Nikolaj Ehlers added an empty-net goal and two assists for the Hurricanes, Jackson Blake had a goal and an assist, Logan Stankoven scored a goal.

Brandon Bussi started in place of Frederik Andersen in goal and made 18 saves. Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour told ABC that Andersen, who did not dress, needed the rest. Pyotr Kochetkov was the backup goalie with Andersen serving as the emergency goaltender.

"Let (Andersen) rest," Brind'Amour said. "Give him as many days here as we can."

Mark Stone, William Karlsson and Brett Howden scored goals for the Golden Knights, and Carter Hart made 23 saves. Karlsson also had an assist.

The Hurricanes outplayed the Golden Knights in the period, outshooting Vegas 14-6. But the Golden Knights, according to Natural Stat Trick, had four high-danger chances to three for Carolina.

The difference was the Hurricanes took advantage of their chances.

Brind'Amour replaced Andersen with Bussi trailing 4-0 after two periods in Game 2 on Saturday, and he saved the first 18 shots he faced as the Hurricanes mounted a furious rally. Bussi failed to save the 19th shot when Theodore knocked the puck off the boards and it bounced off Bussi's skate for a Golden Knights victory.

- The Associated Press