The Vegas Golden Knights did not leave Denver with a 2-0 series lead because Game 2 was smooth. Instead, they left with it because the game got uncomfortable, Colorado pushed, the second period tilted the wrong way and the Golden Knights did not crack.
John Tortorella did not dress up the middle of the game after Vegas rallied for a 3-1 win Friday night at Ball Arena. In fact, the Golden Knights had only four shots in the second period, went into the locker room trailing 1-0 and had to wait until the third before Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev flipped the game.
For Tortorella, that was the point. Vegas did not need to feel good about the second period. It needed to survive it.
“Yeah, we found a way,” Tortorella said. “I thought the key part of the game was a real struggle in the second period for us, but we still entered the locker room just down 1-0. I thought that was the key moment of the game.”
The Second Period Was the Test
Colorado had scored first, carried a 1-0 lead into the third and was protecting a situation it had not lost from all season. Before Vegas scored three times in the third, the Avalanche were 45-0-0 when leading after two periods, regular season and playoffs combined.
Because of that, the second intermission mattered. Vegas was not playing its best game, but it was still within one goal.
“We felt we were in a good spot going into the third, one down by a goal in this building, Game 2,” Tortorella said. “We just wanted to keep on playing.”
That patience mattered, too. Rather than chase the game into mistakes, Vegas stayed close enough for one swing, then made sure one swing became two.
Hart and the Middle Held
Carter Hart gave Vegas the room to wait.
“Yeah, we’ve got some pretty good goaltending,” Tortorella said. “Let’s state that right away. Carter has been very good in the first two games here.”
Hart stopped 29 of 30 shots in Game 2 and allowed only three goals across the first two games of the series. Although Colorado had zone time, pressure and plenty of action around the middle of the ice, Vegas did enough to keep much of it from becoming clean damage.
“We faced a lot of pressure tonight, a lot of time in our end zone,” Tortorella said. “Blocked some shots. I thought we did a pretty good job in the middle of the ice. A lot of action was going on there, but some of the pucks didn’t get to the net.”
Against Colorado’s speed, that can look like survival. However, in Game 2, survival was enough until the Golden Knights found their opening.
Eichel’s Game Was Bigger Than the Goal
Eichel’s third-period goal ended his scoring drought and tied the game, but Tortorella’s postgame praise went beyond the finish.
Before the offense came, the coach pointed to Eichel’s defensive work. Tortorella said the Golden Knights had talked about changes they needed to make from Game 1 to Game 2, and Eichel embraced that responsibility.
“I thought Jack really worked at that part of the game,” Tortorella said. “I thought all three of them did.”
Tortorella’s praise went well beyond the tying goal.
“I think he’s the best 200-foot player in the game,” Tortorella said. “I do. There are some good ones, but he’s right there.”
That comment changed the lens on Eichel’s night. Although the goal was the highlight, Tortorella’s trust came from the work before it.
“He did some things defensively tonight that you probably don’t see that were very important to us,” Tortorella said.
Barbashev’s Line Earned Its Payoff
The line of Eichel, Barbashev and Pavel Dorofeyev finally broke through in the third. However, Tortorella framed the payoff as something earned before the puck went in.
Barbashev brought the physical edge, while Dorofeyev helped create the go-ahead goal by keeping a puck alive along the wall. From there, Eichel made the play, and Barbashev finished it with a shot over Scott Wedgewood’s shoulder.
“Dory does,” Tortorella said of keeping the puck alive. “I think it was a couple times that he batted that puck and kept it alive and we find a way to score. Jack, it’s a really big play there in Barbie’s goal.”
Still, Tortorella did not want credit for a slogan or magic wall-play philosophy. To him, this was playoff hockey.
“They know the battles,” Tortorella said. “All teams at this time of the year talk about battles. That’s what determines which end you’re going to play in.”
The Room Is the Safety Net
The Golden Knights now return to Las Vegas with a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Final. Still, Tortorella did not sound worried about his team getting carried away.
“I guarantee you we won’t,” Tortorella said when asked about avoiding the trap of getting caught up in the situation. “I don’t have to say anything to them. They understand the situation.”
That trust is what he kept coming back to, rather than the system, a phrase or a coach’s fingerprints on every battle won.
“Our guys know what to do,” Tortorella said. “Our room is good. No matter what’s going on, we’re going to face some stuff the next game as far as momentum swings coming our way against us. We have a good room. That’s what you rest on. At least that’s what I rest on. We trust them, and the biggest thing is they trust themselves.”
Because of that, Game 2 became revealing precisely because it was not perfect. Vegas did not solve every Colorado push, and it did not fix every detail Tortorella wants fixed. However, the Golden Knights stayed close, trusted the room and waited for their best players to turn a hard game into a massive win.
Up next
The series shifts to Las Vegas on Sunday, with the Golden Knights leading Colorado 2-0 in the Western Conference Final.
Vegas enters Game 3 at 9-4 this postseason, while Colorado is 8-2 after dropping both games at Ball Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 5 p.m. PT on May 24 at T-Mobile Arena.
Related stories
Golden Knights survive late push, beat Avalanche 4-2 in Game 1
Welcome to Dice City Sports — where we provide premium, exclusive, up-to-date news and analysis surrounding the Las Vegas sports scene. Follow along on social media, and check back for new articles daily!
Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
