If you were thinking John Tortorella would change his stance from the Vegas Golden Knights losing to “the better team” in Game 1, you’d be mistaken.
“We were not good,” Tortorella said on Tuesday.
Short, sweet and to the point.
Much of the messaging 24 hours after the Knights’ 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks remained the same. The Knights didn’t play well for large stretches of the game, but did enough to win.
They’ll look for a 2-0 series lead at T-Mobile Arena on at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Tortorella also didn’t go into specifics on how the Knights needed to play better, opting to simply say, “We need to play better.”
Was there any good tape that he saw?
“There’s some,” he said. “Not much.”
Getting out to a fast start might be the first step in helping that.
The Knights were outplayed in the first period, especially at 5-on-5, but managed to get through the first 20 minutes without either team finding the back of the net.
“The first probably wasn’t our best,” defenseman Noah Hanifin said. “I think as the game went along, we cleaned things up a little bit. We started transitioning the puck quicker, playing faster.”
Since he arrived late in the regular season, Tortorella has talked plenty about mindset and getting into the right frame of mind throughout the course of a game.
He used that buzzword again in terms of being ready when the puck drops.
“That’s a mindset. That’s guys being ready,” Tortorella said. “I think it comes to anticipation skills. To me, it’s not a physical skill. It’s a readiness. And we were certainly void of that.”
The Knights needed their goaltender to be their best player in Game 1. Carter Hart was that with 33 saves.
Hart carried a shutout into the third period for the second straight game. Both times, however, the Knights got the quick response they were looking for.
Game 6 of the first-round clincher over Utah was Colton Sissons on the fourth line. Monday was Ivan Barbashev scoring the game-winning goal one minute after Ducks center Mikael Granlund tied it.
“We’ve got some better hockey to show,” Sissons said. “I thought we gave them a little bit too much time and space coming through the neutral zone a little bit.”
Much of the talk has been similarities between the Ducks and Mammoth, primarily with their speed and young talent.
But the Knights did a better job as that series went on in keeping the Mammoth to the outside. That will be an area of focus as the second round progresses every other day.
“I think both teams are real dangerous off the rush. A lot of good, young skill,” Hanifin said. “I think the Utah series, it was pretty feisty and stuff like that. I think last night was a lot more 5-on-5 situations, but we’ll see how it goes.”
The Knights found a way to win on Monday, and that’s what the NHL is in Tortorella’s mind — a find-a-way league.
He said Tuesday was a chance to reset and keep the players away from the rink, adding he trusts the team in knowing they have to be better on Wednesday.
“You watch teams throughout playoffs find ways to win when they really don’t deserve it.” Tortorella said. “We did that last night, but there’s only so many kicks at the can at that. We need to be ready to play better Game 2.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
Up next
Who: Ducks at Golden Knights
What: Game 2, second round (Knights lead 1-0)
When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: T-Mobile Arena
TV: TNT, truTV, HBO Max
Radio: KFLG 94.7 FM/KKGK 1340 AM
Line: Knights -160; total 6½
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Golden Knights-Ducks series schedule
Game 1: Knights 3, Ducks 1
Game 2: Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena (TNT)
Game 3: Friday, 6:30 p.m. at Honda Center (TNT)
Game 4: Sunday, 6:30 p.m. at Honda Center (ESPN)
*Game 5: May 12, TBD at T-Mobile Arena (ESPN)
*Game 6: May 14, TBD at Honda Center (TNT)
*Game 7: May 16, TBD at T-Mobile Arena (ESPN or ABC)
*if necessary
