Heavyweights Carolina, Vegas meet in Stanley Cup Final

Caught up in the NBA playoffs? Gearing up for the World Cup? Don’t forget the Stanley Cup Final starts tonight! We have a great matchup between two top seeds, Carolina and Vegas, and our Tim Rohan previews the series, breaking it down from every angle.

Plus, Germany’s Jamal Musiala is our World Cup spotlight of the day. Stay with us. We’ll have more Stanley Cup, World Cup and NBA Finals coverage on the way here and on the NBC News website.

Stanley Cup Final

During the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes ripped through the Eastern Conference like a … well, you can finish the pun yourself. Carolina swept Ottawa in Round 1, swept Philadelphia in Round 2, lost the opening game of the conference finals to Montreal, and then ripped off four straight wins to reach the Stanley Cup Final. That’s a 12-1 record this postseason.

The Hurricanes have relied mostly on their depth. While Carolina’s first line, led by Sebastian Aho, hasn’t been super prolific, the team’s second line has made up for it. The second line includes Taylor Hall, the former MVP award winner; Logan Stankoven; and Jackson Blake — and they have combined to tally 19 goals and 24 assists in 13 playoff games.

Carolina’s goaltender, Frederik Andersen, has also been standing on his head. He’s started this whole postseason run, while posting a 1.41 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage.

Vegas, meanwhile, has been a playoff mainstay since the expansion team arrived in 2017. The Golden Knights lost in the Stanley Cup Final in their first year of existence, won the Cup in 2023, and have only missed the playoffs once since their inaugural season.

Mitch Marner, center, skates on the ice in a hockey uniform between other players — Mitch Marner, center, of the Vegas Golden Knights during a game against the Colorado Avalanche in Game One of the Western Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 20.Michael Martin / NHLI via Getty Images file

A pair of newcomers have Vegas on the verge of another title. This offseason, Vegas acquired the right winger Mitch Marner in a sign-and-trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Then, late in the season, the Golden Knights fired coach Bruce Cassidy, who helped win that 2023 Cup, and brought in another veteran coach, John Tortorella.

This postseason, Vegas has adopted Tortorella’s no-nonsense, defensive style, and Marner has provided the scoring punch. He’s compiled seven goals and 14 assists, and his 21 total points are the most this postseason in the NHL. Long-suffering Toronto fans might want to avert their eyes, if Marner ends up hoisting the Cup.

World Cup Countdown

Leading up to the 2026 World Cup, we’re counting down 26 players to watch. Today’s entry is Germany’s Jamal Musiala.

Jamal Musiala spent much of his childhood in England, developing his game in Chelsea’s youth academy, playing for England’s youth teams with his close friend Jude Bellingham.

But in the summer of 2019, around the time of Brexit, the 16-year-old Musiala left to join Bayern Munich in Germany. Musiala had been born there, to a German mother and a British Nigerian father, before moving to England as a young boy.

When Musiala arrived at Bayern, his new teammate Leroy Sané gave him a nickname — Bambi, presumably for his tall, slender build. He was just 17 when he made his debut for Bayern and became the youngest player in team history to play in the Bundesliga.

In the end, Musiala decided to represent Germany on the international stage. Not England.

“I’ve thought about this question a lot,” Musiala told The Athletic. “‘What is best for my future?’ ‘Where do I have more chances to play?’ In the end, I just listened to the feeling that over a long period of time kept telling me that it was the right decision to play for Germany, the land I was born in.”

Jamal Musiala, right, jumps high while aiming to kick a ball on the soccer field next to other players — Jamal Musiala, right, of Team Germany during a game against Finland on May 31.Tom Weller / dpa / picture alliance via Getty Images file

Now, Musiala is 23 and one of the best young players in the world, an attacking midfielder who’s a magician with the ball at his feet, who also has a knack for finding the back of the net. From 2022 through 2025, he scored 34 goals in 82 Bundesliga matches for Bayern.

On the German national team, he’s joined by two Bayern teammates — right back Joshua Kimmich and center back Jonathan Tah. Combined with Florian Wirtz, the point-guard-esque midfielder who plays for Liverpool, they comprise Germany’s talented core.

Last summer, Musiala suffered a major injury during the Club World Cup, a fractured fibula and dislocated ankle, and he seems to be still working his way back into form. If he’s healthy, expect him to be at the center of the action for Germany at this summer’s World Cup.

For England, he will always be the one that got away.

Yesterday’s entry was Morocco’s Brahim Díaz. Read about him here.

What We’re Reading

U.S. national team goalie Matt Freese takes a cerebral approach to the game. Makes sense: He’s a Harvard grad who comes from a family of scientists. Our Tim Rohan profiled Freese ahead of the World Cup.

The Philadelphia Eagles finally completed the long-rumored A.J. Brown trade, sending the wide receiver to the New England Patriots.

Hall of Fame NBA coach Rick Adelman, who coached some memorable Sacramento Kings teams in the early 2000s, died at 79.