Tonight’s victory means Carolina has won the NHL’s Stanley Cup Final, ending a 20-year wait for the team’s second championship title.
Taylor Hall, Jackson Blake and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for Carolina.
Carolina captain Jordan Staal, who scored six goals in the first five games of the series, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs’ most valuable player. After the game, he paid tribute to his teammates.
“There were so many individual efforts just to keep the puck out of our goal. I’m so proud of these guys,” he said.
The 37-year-old Staal thus became the oldest player ever to win the award, 17 years after his Stanley Cup victory with Pittsburgh.
Current coach Rod Brind’Amour was the team captain when Carolina won in 2006.
“I’m so happy for everyone, this is what it’s all about,” he said after the game.
Carolina won the final series 4–2. The team lost only three games in the entire playoffs.
