Golden Knights aim to ‘keep the momentum’ entering Game 2 of Cup Final

RALEIGH, N.C. -- John Tortorella, to use a blackjack term, is doubling down.

The Vegas Golden Knights snatched home-ice advantage in the 2026 Stanley Cup Final by defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in Game 1 here on Tuesday.

In the past, there have been a laundry list of coaches who would say come the postseason that gaining a split during the first two games on the road was the goal heading back home for Games 3 and 4.

Just don’t suggest that to the Golden Knights coach, who won’t be satisfied with anything less than a win in Game 2 of the best-of-7 series on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC). 

“We’re focused,” Tortorella said. “Momentum swings happen quickly, and we want to keep the momentum on our side, so there’s no question we’re looking to get two.”

When it comes to momentum, Vegas has no shortage of it.

Consider that the Golden Knights have won a franchise-record seven consecutive postseason games, a run in which they’ve outscored the opposition 27-14. They haven’t lost in 24 days since a 4-3 defeat at the Anaheim Ducks in Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round on May 10.

Four of those victories have come on the road, including a pair in the opening two games of the Western Conference Final against the Colorado Avalanche, who won the Presidents’ Trophy for finishing first in the NHL standings with 121 points. It was part of Vegas’ surprising four-game sweep of Colorado that set the stage for the matchup against Carolina.

Of note: It was the first multigoal comeback win by a road team to begin a Stanley Cup Final across the 108 championship series in League history. Vegas accomplished that by erasing a 2-0 deficit they found themselves in just 12:08 into the game.

Much like in Game 3 against the Avalanche, when the Golden Knights trailed 3-0 after the first period only to rebound for a 5-3 victory, Vegas didn’t blink, let alone fold. For Tortorella, the fact that 12 players on the current team were members of the 2023 Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights means Vegas never feels like it’s out of a game, no matter how steep the comeback might be.

“I think that the biggest thing that showed up is there wasn’t panic,” he said. “We knew -- and again, it looked bad, we’re down 2-0 -- but I still thought we got to our game early in a few shifts but we’re down 2-0. I just think we kept our patience, tried to find our game more consistently and we did. Still made some mistakes at crucial times in the second period. I thought we had a few mistakes in the third period we’re going to have to correct, but I just thought we stayed together. 

“I think that’s the biggest attribute I’ve seen with this team in the short time I’ve been with them is they stay together. They don’t break apart and I think that gets you through some situations. We’re playing against a very good team. We’re going to have things happen to us tomorrow. But we’re going to have to stick together to try and find a way.”

Which, of late, they’ve done at a high level. As Avalanche coach Jared Bednar so aptly described it after his team was eliminated by the Golden Knights: “We ran into a buzz saw.”

One that hasn’t missed a beat in almost a month.

“I think we’ve been through a lot of different scenarios over the course of an 82-game season and in the past,” captain Mark Stone said. “We faced a lot of adversity throughout the season, good and bad. So, we haven’t panicked in those situations. 

“We knew that if we can continue to play, it was early in the game, right? We still had 50 minutes left to get back on track and if you start to change, you start to chase the game, it doesn’t go so well for you. So, we’ve done a really good job of just sticking to the way we play and not taking too much unnecessary risk, and we were able to get ourselves back in the game.”

Should they win Game 2, the odds of the Golden Knights winning their second Stanley Cup championship in their nine-season history will skyrocket. Teams that take a 2-0 series lead in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final own an all-time record of 50-5 (.909), including 10-2 (.833) when starting on the road. 

Little wonder that Tortorella wants nothing to do with a split.