SALT LAKE CITY – Perspective is sometimes a tough thing to find. But in a Stanley Cup Playoffs series, it’s paramount. And for the Vegas Golden Knights, down 2-1 while approaching the midpoint of this series, the psychological outlook on a rainy Sunday in Utah was positively sunny.
“It's belief now. This isn't X's and O's. We've made some adjustments as you do in the playoffs, not crazy stuff. But when you get down in a series and lose a couple in a row, it's belief,” said head coach John Tortorella. “It's believing in what we're doing, believing in how we're preparing. This is mental, and this is where I feel very comfortable with this team. I just talked to one player, won't give you his name, but he said this is when we feel most comfortable, when we're kind of back up against the wall a little bit. This is where it really comes out. So, we can draw as much stuff as we want on the board, X's and O's wise. This is belief, and I think we have that in that room.”
Tortorella put his group through a fast-paced skate with a few new wrinkles laid bare.
Forwards Braeden Bowman and Trevor Connelly, fresh from a first round Calder Cup series win, were on the ice with the team after being recalled from the Henderson Silver Knights.
Tortorella rejigged his power play units going with a more balanced approach and defensemen on both units rather than the five-forward component used for most of this season.
PP1
Forwards: Jack Eichel, Pavel Dorofeyev, Mark Stone, Ivan Barbashev
Defenseman: Shea Theodore
PP2
Forwards: Mitch Marner, Tomas Hertl, Brett Howden
Defensemen: Rasmus Andersson, Noah Hanifin
“We've lost the special teams battle in the first three games, and that's been a big part of where we're at. We want to change something, balance it out a little bit. We'll see where it goes,” said Tortorella.
Vegas is healthy, deep in talent, has excellent goaltending, and a load of experience. The puck isn’t going in right now and that must change. But getting all sweaty about it won’t help.
Process is great but at some point, results must arrive. It’s a race to four wins and Utah is halfway there. The Golden Knights need to start scoring goals both earlier and more frequently.
“We're not far off, we haven't been far off. I think we lost ourselves in the second period of Game 2. Other than that, I think both teams, it's been a fairly even series right on through,” said Tortorella. "A series changes and momentum changes on a big play. It's not the whole game, it's a big play at a key time, maybe a fluky play at a key time. We're not far off. If we can just stay within our structure, especially the other side of the puck, where I thought we got sloppy in the middle of the series. If we can stay with our defensive structure, we'll find our way.”
Winning Game 4 isn’t quite a must, but it would even up the series and regain home ice advantage for Vegas. Panic isn’t a vibe which one can ever feel around this group. Sunday’s practice manifested a group that was both chatty and relaxed.
“Like I've talked about, the X's and O's are really important, but it’s the mind to me that's important. We went out to Park City last night, had a dinner as a team, which was really good,” said Tortorella. “I think it's a tight group, I think they feel very comfortable in this situation. Some guys almost relish this situation as far as trying to pull some people through. They've been that way since I've been here, it’s a tight group. It's very important that you're not uptight because of where you are in the series. We're only down 2-1, I'm not going to make this doom and gloom. You need to go the other way; you need to loosen yourself up. We've got some great personalities in there, some great pros who understand that. You need to have fun when you're going through this. If you're too uptight, your game just isn't going to go. I feel very comfortable with where the mind is with this group.”
