LAS VEGAS — The\u00a0Vegas Golden Knights\u00a0were still digesting their\u00a03-0 loss\u00a0to the\u00a0Carolina Hurricanes\u00a0in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday when coach John Tortorella was asked what’s next for him with the club — and whether he’d be back behind the bench after a brief stint with the team that ended in utter disappointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I haven’t even [considered it],” Tortorella said. “I have to swallow [this loss] first.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was a different message than what Tortorella had conveyed just last week in an interview with Sportsnet. At that time, Tortorella said “end of June, I’m done, as far as with Vegas.” That seemed to reflect the arrangement Tortorella had with Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon in stepping in for Cassidy in the latter stages of the Golden Knights’ regular season; he was a short-term solution to take the team through what it hoped would be a Cup-winning spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vegas ultimately fell short of that goal, but Tortorella — who was brought in to replace the fired Bruce Cassidy on March 29 and guide Vegas through its final eight regular-season games and into the playoffs — didn’t immediately double-down on being done in the desert. McCrimmon said he felt the Golden Knights had “lost their spirit” under Cassidy and tapped Tortorella to bring it back. Vegas responded by going 7-1 to finish the regular season and then advanced deep into the playoffs. Coming up short — on home ice, no less — was a difficult reality to face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Wild year, crazy year,” Golden Knights defenseman\u00a0Brayden McNabb\u00a0said. “We came together as a group late in the year. Torts came in late in the year and did a great job. This is going to sting; it’s going to haunt us. But we are proud of how we got here and how we played. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t good enough.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was no guarantee the Golden Knights would be in position to reach a Cup Final in 2026 given the ups and downs of their season. Vegas went 1-5-2 after the league’s Olympic break in February, and when Tortorella was brought on, the Golden Knights had dropped to third place in the Pacific Division with their playoff aspirations seemingly slipping away. It took more than Tortorella to turn things around, but he was an undeniable catalyst for change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“When I look at everything that happened this season, to give ourselves a chance, is pretty special,” captain\u00a0Mark Stone\u00a0said. “But it doesn’t make things better right now. This feeling sucks. I never want to have it again.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several players hinted that injuries ultimately took a toll on Vegas. The Golden Knights had to play Game 6 without top center\u00a0William Karlsson\u00a0— who sustained an apparent arm\/wrist injury in Game 5 on Thursday — but there were others suiting up at less than 100% as well. And Vegas was at a disadvantage early in Sunday’s game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Golden Knights fell behind when\u00a0Taylor Hall\u00a0picked up a loose puck and buried it behind\u00a0Carter Hart\u00a0less than four minutes into the first period. It was a nightmare start for Vegas, trying to forge a comeback against a Carolina team that was 3-0 in elimination games in this postseason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tortorella tapped\u00a0Reilly Smith\u00a0— a healthy scratch since May 1 in Game 6 of the Golden Knights’ first-round playoff series against Utah — to replace Karlsson. The Golden Knights’ coach also made a surprising call to insert\u00a0Braeden Bowman\u00a0on the fourth line over\u00a0Keegan Kolesar, despite Bowman having not played an NHL game since March 21 — before Tortorella became Vegas’ coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One change Tortorella wasn’t willing to make was in net. Though the Hurricanes went from\u00a0Frederik Andersen\u00a0to\u00a0Brandon Bussi\u00a0as their starter when Andersen sustained a knee ailment earlier in the series, Tortorella staunchly stood with Hart over\u00a0Adin Hill. And Hart did what he could in Game 6, recording a .909 SV% while the Golden Knights struggled to generate any offense. But he couldn’t match Bussi’s perfection in Sunday’s matchup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I thought their goaltender was really good tonight,” Tortorella said. “Since he came in, he’s been really good. We put some good minutes in too. It’s a find a way league and they found a way and we didn’t.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shakeups Tortorella tried to make didn’t help the Golden Knights as they failed to maintain any momentum offensively and couldn’t capitalize on chances. Vegas earned the game’s first power play midway through the first period when\u00a0Jackson Blake\u00a0was tagged for tripping, but\u00a0Tomas Hertl’s ensuing faceoff violation swiftly negated the man advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bussi did make some key stops but there wasn’t much for the Golden Knights to sustain against the Hurricanes’ relentless pressure. Vegas was clearly worn down by the second period, going over 20 minutes through that frame and into the third with only two shots on net and five attempts. That gave Vegas a whopping five shots on goal from the first period to late into the third period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Carolina added to its lead when, following a failed clearing attempt by the Golden Knights, Blake took a pass in the slot from\u00a0Logan Stankoven\u00a0and beat Hart to give Carolina a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack Eichel\u00a0had a brilliant chance to get Vegas on the board on a third-period power play when Bussi was down and without a stick, but Eichel’s shot rang off the crossbar. That just left\u00a0Nikolaj Ehlers\u00a0to ice the Hurricanes victory with an empty-net goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What’s next for Tortorella remains to be seen. But it doesn’t sound as if he’s entirely done with Vegas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I feel very fortunate how this all came about just in a weird way at the end of the year,” Tortorella said. “And then to get locked in with these guys, I feel very fortunate to get to know the team and just have the opportunity. I wanted to coach and just in with this group, I feel so fortunate.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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