Hurricanes-Golden Knights Game 3 takeaways, grades, questions - ESPN

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Then chaos. This is the easiest way for anyone to fully comprehend what just happened between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Vegas Golden Knights.

No, really. Vegas' Mitch Marner scored a second-period hat trick — the fastest in Stanley Cup Final history — to help the Knights take a 4-0 lead into the third period, chasing Hurricanes starting goalie Frederik Andersen in the process.

Then Carolina's Jordan Martinook, Taylor Hall and Jordan Staal scored three times in the span of 39 seconds before Andrei Svechnikov scored the game-tying goal with less than two minutes left to force overtime.

One overtime would not be enough, of course. And the winning goal credited to Vegas' Shea Theodore took an awkward bounce off Martinook then ricocheted off Carolina goalie Brandon Bussi's equipment and into the net.

With the 5-4 win, the Golden Knights have a 2-1 series lead with the series set to resume Tuesday with Game 4. Here's a look at what went down, why it went down and what it all means between now and when the puck drops for the next matchup.

Legal is forcing us to get the fine print out of the way first: Those who subject themselves to the Golden Knights this postseason could experience confusion, elation and an amplified sense of concern. Sometimes, it all happens in the same game — and it did Saturday.

First period? Two shots. That's it. Another slow start for a team that entered Game 2 averaging the second-most goals per game this postseason. There's the confusion.

But come the second period, it wasn't just that the Golden Knights scored four goals. It's how they broke out. After two straight disallowed goals — one for offside, one for goalie interference — came the barrage.

Marner grabbed the