Tortorella Promises Golden Knights Will Force Game 7 After Loss to Hurricanes

Vegas Golden Knights coach John Tortorella stated that his team would bring the Stanley Cup Final back to Raleigh for a Game 7 after being pushed to the brink of elimination by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Following a 4-2 defeat in Game 5 on Thursday night, which gave Carolina a 3-2 series lead, Tortorella said, “We’ll be back here. We’re just going to do it in a different order. I’m going to leave my clothes here. That’s for sure. They’ll be in the hotel.”

The Golden Knights now face a difficult challenge in their pursuit of the Stanley Cup. Teams that win Game 5 when the series is tied at 2-2 have gone on to win nearly 75% of the time. When the home team takes Game 5, as Carolina did Thursday, that figure rises to 80%. Teams leading 3-2 in the Stanley Cup Final have a 37-8 series record and have captured the last 10 such series.

Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb, who suffered a puck to the face in Game 2, said, “We’ve done it the hard way all year, so why not do it again? We’ve got to win Game 6. That’s the mindset.”

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Center Jack Eichel referred to the group as “a resilient group” and emphasized the focus on Game 6, saying the players were concentrating on “going home in a must-win situation.”

There are concerns for the Golden Knights beyond the standings. The team has lost consecutive games for the first time since Games 2 and 3 of the first round against the Utah Mammoth.

A major setback came when William Karlsson was injured in the second period after a collision with Carolina defenseman Sean Walker. A trainer examined Karlsson’s left arm before he exited the ice. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported that Karlsson left the arena for evaluation and did not return for the third period.

Tortorella confirmed the situation after the game, saying, “He’s not going to be with us, probably.”

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Vegas recorded a 7-3-4 and 10-5 mark in the playoffs with Karlsson in the lineup. He contributed on both the power play and penalty kill. Against Carolina, the Golden Knights’ penalty kill allowed two goals to Andrei Svechnikov during Thursday’s contest. Karlsson’s injury also forced lineup adjustments, with his linemate Mitch Marner moving to play alongside Eichel.

McNabb discussed Karlsson’s importance to the locker room, saying, “He’s day one guy. Been around a long time. He’s a 200-foot player, so you definitely miss him when he’s not in there.”

Goaltending is another issue. Carter Hart became just the third goalie in NHL history to surrender four or more goals in each of the first five games of a Stanley Cup Final. Hart currently has an .856 save percentage and a 3.70 goals-against average versus Carolina.

When asked about the possibility of switching goaltenders to Adin Hill, Tortorella dismissed the idea, answering, “Oh, Christ. That could be the stupidest question I’ve heard.”

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes appear to have rediscovered their rhythm. Game 5 marked the first in the series where either team scored fewer than three goals.

Carolina forward Nik Ehlers, who registered three assists, said, “It’s the closest to a full 60 [minutes] that we’ve played in the last five games. And that’s obviously a positive, but we’ve also got to realize how we played, how we did those things and how we need to play to give ourselves a chance because we’re playing against a really good team.”

Through three rounds, Carolina played only one game more than the minimum required, sweeping Ottawa and Philadelphia before dispatching Montreal in five games. The Hurricanes had an 11-day break between the second and third rounds. Vegas, by contrast, needed six games to eliminate both Utah and Anaheim before sweeping the Colorado Avalanche in the conference final.

In a physically demanding playoff run where the two teams combined for 66 hits in Game 5, the Hurricanes appear to be sustaining their level of play as the final series continues.

Coach Rod Brind’Amour said, “I hope we’re getting better. I think there’s certain areas of our game that are starting to look a lot like we need it to look, but I do think there’s still at another level that we’re going to need to get to find that next one.”

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