Golden Knights’ Cup Final loss to end roller-coaster season ‘going to sting’

LAS VEGAS -- A stone’s throw from T-Mobile Arena, screams from the Big Apple Coaster at New York-New York can be heard. The roller-coaster features a steep 144-foot drop, a loop, and a 180-degree twist-and-dive maneuver, called the “heartline.”

The Vegas Golden Knights experienced a roller-coaster of their own over 104 regular-season and playoff games, featuring thrilling come-from-behind comebacks, frustrating collapses, and a hopeful sense of relief that the ride was over once Vegas found its stride in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and a 2-1 lead after three games in the Stanley Cup Final.

But the season had one last drop left, and when the ride pulled into the station following the Golden Knights’ 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 6 of the Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday, it was officially over.

“We battled through a lot. Things were never easy the whole year,” Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore said. “We were down in games. We had a lot of comebacks, and we grinded right to the end to get to this point. I'm proud of all the guys. But it's going to sting.”

Much is made about the Golden Knights’ ability to come back in third periods. They outscored the opposition 108-61 in the final 20 minutes of games during the regular season, but that was just one aspect of the team’s consistent inconsistencies.

That was just one part of the emotional ride the fans went on.

The Golden Knights hovered around .500 throughout the first 50 games (25-13-12). They lost the next five games, then won the final two before the Olympic Break.

“Each year is unique in its own way. This year, I think just the ups and downs we dealt with as a group,” defenseman Noah Hanifin said. “When you go on runs like this, you learn a lot about your group and yourself.”

It was after the break, however, that the Golden Knights went into a free fall.

Vegas went 5-10-2 immediately after the Olympics, including a 1-4-2 run from March 17-29 that was the final straw. The Golden Knights fired coach Bruce Cassidy and brought in John Tortorella for the final eight games of the season.

Tortorella stabilized the team, and the Golden Knights averaged 4.13 goals per game and allowed an average of 1.88. It was a full goal better than the first 74 games of the season, where the Golden Knights averaged 3.12 goals per game and allowed 3.07.

Vegas won seven of its final eight games to go from potentially missing the postseason to winning the Pacific Division.

“Coach came in and did a great job, hell of a job,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “We battled our (butts) off this whole playoff, and we came up short, and it's going to sting. It's going to haunt us, but we're proud of how we got here and how we played, and unfortunately, it just wasn't good enough.”

The playoffs continued with less volatility. The Golden Knights finished the first two rounds against the Utah Mammoth and Anaheim Ducks in six games before emphatically sweeping the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.

“Obviously, at one point in the year, we didn't really know where we stood as a group,” Hanifin said. “There was definitely some difficulty, but we found a way to rally and click at the right time and gave ourselves an opportunity to do something special.”

During that stretch, the Golden Knights upped their goals per game to 4.75, which continued into the Stanley Cup Final. Vegas shot 18.5 percent (12 goals on 65 shots) against Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen. 

But the moment Carolina switched to Brandon Bussi in net, the Golden Knights’ hot shooting flamed out. Bussi limited Vegas to six goals on 87 shots (6.9 percent shooting percentage) with only two goals getting past him in the final 140 minutes of the series.

“I'm not going to take anything away from Carolina,” Tortorella said. “That's a good club and tremendous respect for (Rod Brind’Amour) and his staff. We put in some good minutes, but we couldn't find our way. They did as I've always said: It's a find-your-way league.”

But in the minutes he led the handshake line, Golden Knights captain Mark Stone was able to process how it all went.

“When I look at everything that happened throughout the season, the ups and the downs, to give ourselves a chance to play in the Finals is pretty impressive,” Stone said.