Golden Knights see mental break as important as physical rest ahead of West Final

The Vegas Golden Knights have not played a game since Thursday. They will not play another one until Wednesday, when they travel to Denver to take on the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final at Ball Arena (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

And though the break is important for players to get their bodies ready for another grueling, physical series, Vegas coach John Tortorella also believes the down time helps his team prepare mentally.

"It's a lot of hockey these guys have played throughout the regular season, the grind. It turns into an emotional roller coaster during the playoffs," Tortorella said Monday. "It's such a tough, tough game to play in playoffs. And it's not a physical thing for me, I think it's a mental thing. I think you need to get them away.

"I think practicing this time of the year is overrated. I think you get the stuff done with your video what you need to get done as far as what you're thinking about with your team. And to have them fresh mentally I think transforms physically."

The five-day break between their final game of the second round, a 5-1 win at the Anaheim Ducks on May 14, and the start of the next round Wednesday, is the longest the Knights have gone between games since having three days off between the regular-season finale and Game 1 of the first round against the Utah Mammoth.

In fact, since they opened the postseason April 19, they have played 12 games in 26 days.

But they are in good place now, Tortorella said.

"I felt when we started the second round, it came at us pretty quick," Tortorella said. "It was a hard round, winning one, losing one, and getting it closed out in six. I know as a team right now, I think we feel, for me ... I think we feel really good about ourselves mentally. I think we have confidence as a group."

Forward Mitch Marner said getting a mental rest is great this time of year, but he also enjoys getting on the ice ahead of the next round.

"Take what you need, do what you need, take care of yourself as much as you need," he said. "And when you get out there try to get a good sweat in, keep the vibe light. That's what I always try to do, go out there and have fun.

"As soon as we start playing it just feels like another hockey game, that's kind of the goal of mine."

Defenseman Shea Theodore, who leads Vegas in ice time this postseason with an average of 25:39 in 12 games, also was happy to get some down time.

"I feel good," he said. "It's good to have a couple of days in between and look at some video, think about Colorado and get ready to get the job done."

Of course, to get that job done, they will need their best to defeat an Avalanche team that won the Presidents' Trophy as the best team in the regular season and has gone 8-1 through the first two round of the playoffs, sweeping the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and needing five games to knock off the Minnesota
Wild in the second round.

"From a coach's point of view, I've seen them play all year long, not so much as a coach in my situation coming in so late this year, but I've seen them play a lot of hockey," said Tortorella, who replaced Bruce Cassidy as Vegas coach March 29, with eight games left in the regular season. "I'm not going to talk a lot about them, but we certainly respect them. They have been the top team in the National Hockey League all year long, we know that."

What gives Tortorella confidence is his belief that the Golden Knights seem to get better as their series go along.

In the first round, the Golden Knights fell behind 2-1 against the Mammoth, but rolled off three straight wins to take the series in six. In the second round the Golden Knights and Ducks were tied 2-2 after four games, but Vegas won the final two games, including 5-1 in Game 6.

"I think we have gotten better as the rounds have gone on," Tortorella said. "I think you're always working on things. You may have to make a change here and there with the lines, within your concept, but the bottom line is handling the momentum swings as the series goes on, winning one, losing one, how you bounce back. I just respect the team so much in how they handle those types of situations and I just think that's why we got better as the rounds went on."

Doing so in Denver and its high altitude may make doing that hard, but Tortorella said thinking about the thinner air in the Mile High City is pointless.

"It's overrated," Tortorella said. "We're certainly aware of it, we're aware of it, and you have to be, but if you spend too much time talking about it and fixing this, going here, going there, oxygen there, I think it manifests itself into something bigger than it should be.

"We might have to catch a couple of breaths here and there, but we're going to play. That's all we’re worried about."

With the Avalanche getting one more day of rest than Vegas -- they haven't played since May 13 -- each team will be ready to go for Game 1.

"I think it's two good teams probably playing some of their best hockey starting this series," Tortorella said. "Let's have at it."