What should the Hurricanes do with Alexander Nikishin?  Give him a big, long-term contract or do a short-term -- bridge -- deal?  What kind of player is Nikishin?  Is he a catalyst, like Montreal's Lane Hutson or Ducks' young blueliner Jackson Lacombe?  I'm joined by Daily Faceoff host Jonny Lazarus to talk Nikishin, other Canes future questions and the real Metro contenders.  

The Canes are STILL the Stanley Cup Champions.  Joined by Ryan Henkel of Hockey news to discuss the parade, the landscape of the east and the potential of acquiring a top-flight goaltender.  

Canes Corner is presented by the Aluminum Company of North Carolina. aluminumcompany.com

Brandon Bussi made 22 saves, Jackson Blake had a goal and an assist and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Vegas Golden Knights, 3-0, to claim the Stanley Cup.  Jordan Staal was named the Conn Smythe Award winner as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs after a series in which he scored 6 goals, dominated the middle of the ice defensively and won 68% of his faceoffs.  Taylor Hall put the Canes on the board less than 4 minutes in with his 7th goal of the postseason and 2nd of the series.  Blake, who's defensive play created the chance for the Hall opener, doubled the lead in the 2nd period with his 7th of the playoffs as well.  The second year player ends up leading the Canes in playoff scoring with 20 points in 19 games.  Nikolaj Ehlers capped the night off with an empty net goal for the final margin.  Bussi ended up 3-1 with a  1.60 GAA and a.931 SV% in 4 appearances -- his first ever in the Stanley Cup playoffs.  Rod Brind'Amour is the only man to ever captain a Stanley Cup winning team AND lead that same team to a Cup as the head coach.

The Canes are one win away from their second Stanley Cup after beating Vegas, 4-2.  Andrei Svechnikov scored twice on the power play, Sebastian Aho broke a 5-game goal drought and Jordan Staal scored for the 5th straight game as the big boys backed Brandon Bussi's 2nd win in as many games.  Carolina can close the series out on Sunday in Las Vegas in Game 6.  Bussi made 23 saves in the game as he became the first goaltender ever to make his first two career playoff starts in the Stanley Cup Final and win both.  Staal is the 5th player in history with goals in each of the first 5 games of a Stanley Cup Final series joining a group that includes three Montreal Canadiens legends -- Maurice Richard (1951), Jean Beliveau (1956) and Yvon Cournoyer (1973).  Nikolaj Ehlers had 3 assists and now has 17 points in the playoffs.  

The Canes beat the Golden Knights, 5-3, taking Game 4 and evening the Stanley Cup Final series at 2-2.  Jordan Staal scored twice -- and has now scored at least one goal in each of the four Stanley Cup Final games -- and Brandon Bussi made 18 saves in his first every Stanley Cup playoff start as they head back to Raleigh for Game 5 on Thursday.  Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake put the Canes ahead with two goals in the first 3 1/1 minutes.  Staal scored on the power play to make it 3-1 later in the opening period.  Then Staal's second broke a 3-3 tie in the 3rd.  Bussi, who started the 3rd period of the Canes' 5-4 double overtime loss on Saturday, has now stopped 36 of 40 shots in 5+ periods of work.  

The Canes trailed 4-0 almost midway through the 3rd period.  Mitch Marner had the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup Final history.  But, the fastest three goals in Cup history, by Carolina starting with about 7 minutes gone in the frame gave them life and Andre Svechnikov's extra attacker power play goal gtied the game at 4 with just under 2 minutes to play.  Unfortunately, Shea Theodore's wild drive caromed off the end boards and went off Brandon Bussi and in for the Vegas Game 3 winner.  Yes, Brandon Bussi played.  And, he payed well.  Canes trail the series 2-1.

Seth Jarvis picked a great time to score the biggest goal of his career.  3:54 into overtime, his power play goal from the left face off circle gave the Hurricanes a 4-3 Game 2 win as Carolina evened the series withi Vegas at 1-1.   The Canes trailed 2-0 into the middle of the 3rd period.  But, Logan Stankoven and Mark Jankowski scored within a 2 1/2 minute span to tie the game.  Jordan Staal's deflection of a Shayne Gostisbehere power play shot got through Carter Hart to give the Canes a 3-2 lead.  And even though Mark Stone would push the game into overtime with a goal that caromed off him and then off Jaccob Slavin, Carolina's second power play goal of the game, from Jarvis, sent the crowd home thrilled.

The Canes jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of Nikolaj Ehlers 1st period goals, but a series of turnovers and defensive breakdowns fueled a 5-4 Vegas win as the Golden Knights took a 1-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final.  Ehlers scored on a 2-on-1 just 25 seconds into the game and then doubled the lead off a great pass by Jalen Chatfield.  But, mistakes in their own end led to three Vegas goals and 4 1/2 minutes into the second period Carolina was behind, 3-2.  Goals by Jordan Staal and Shayne Gostisbehere tied the game at 3-3 and 4-4, respectively.  But, Gostisbehere lost Tomas Hertl in front of the Canes' net with under 4 minutes to play for the game winning goal.  Joined by former Canes defenseman Mike Commodore.  We talk mistakes, needing more from the Canes' top line, and more.

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The Canes scored three times in the 1st period en route to a 6-1 win over the Canadiens and are heading to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 20 years.  Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven and Eric Robinson scored in a span of 7:35 in the opening frame as Carolina dominated the game from the opening face off.  It was not dissimilar to Game4 -- or Game 3 or Game 2 -- only this time, the Hurricanes continued scoring.  Jackson Blake and Shayne Gostisbehere added goals in the 2nd period as the Canes led 5-0 until the middle of the 3rd period.  Frederik Andersen played Game 5 with a broken heart.  Thursday he found out that his longtime agent and close friend Claude Lemieux died by suicide, but still led his team onto the ice and honored Lemieux with 23 saves for his 12th win of the postseason.  Carolina will host Vegas in Game 1 on Tuesday night at Lenovo Center.

The Canes scored three times in a 2:47 span, late in the 1st period and went on to beat the Canadiens, 4-0.  The win puts Carolina one win away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 20 years.  Sebastian Aho's power play goal with 5:01 left in the 1st opened the scoring.  Jordan Staal doubled the lead 1:08 later and Logan Stankoven's 8th of the playoffs capped the uprising as the Hurricanes played their best game of the series in taking a 3 games to 1 lead.  Game 5 will be Friday night at Lenovo Center.  Frederik Andersen made 18 saves for his 3rd shutout of this postseason.  It also gives him a team record 5 playoff shutouts in his Carollna career.  Carolina outshot Montreal 43-18.  Andrei Svechnikov scored into an empty net for the final margin.