A 2–1 series lead over the Carolina Hurricanes has quickly shifted to a 3–2 deficit for John Tortorella and the Vegas Golden Knights, whose season will now be on the line on Sunday night thanks to a 4–2 Game 5 loss on Wednesday.
Despite a strong start, Vegas was unable to maintain it, with penalties and their inability to keep the puck out of their own net coming back to haunt them in the end. It was the fifth straight game in which the Golden Knights allowed 4+ goals against, and that prompted a reporter to ask Tortorella postgame whether he considered pulling Carter Hart for Adin Hill heading into the third period.
In classic Torts fashion, he responded with disgust.
“Oh for c*****, that could be the stupidest question I’ve ever heard,”
The 27-year-old Hart allowed four goals on 24 shots in the loss, bringing his Finals numbers to 2–3–0 with a 3.70 goals-against average and an .856 save percentage.
While Tortorella was in no mood for questions about the play of his goaltender, he does remain confident that his team will be back in Carolina for a winner-takes-all Game 7 next Wednesday night.
“Yeah, I thought we had a good start. We had a really good start. We lost momentum when we went back-to-back in penalties. That’s about the same time we lost Bill (William Karlsson). We’ve got to find a way. I’m gonna leave my clothes here, that’s for sure. They’ll be in the hotel,”
Confidence is key, but it won’t be easy to hold off a Hurricanes team with all the momentum now just one win away from a Stanley Cup. Game 6 goes down Sunday night with puck drop set for 8 p.m. EST at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas.
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