Knights find their footing under Torts and win the Pacific Division

LAS VEGAS — So far, part 1 was a success for Kelly McCrimmon and the Vegas Golden Knights.

McCrimmon’s decision to replace Bruce Cassidy with John Tortorella late in the season with eight games remaining was the wakeup call he hoped would happen. The Knights not only awoke from their late-season slumber, they head to the Stanley Cup Playoffs an excited and confident team after clinching the Pacific Division title Wednesday with a 4-1 win over Seattle at T-Mobile Arena.

“It’s been a kinda weird year,” said defenseman Brayden McNabb. “A lot of ups and downs. We were on top for a while, then we were in third flirting with the wild card then we found our game any the right time and win the division. That’s what we wanted to do, and we did.”

Tortorella admits his plan wasn’t to turn everything upside down and shake it. Rather, just tweak here and there, get the players to believe in themselves, get some freedom into the way they play and raise the compete level by playing faster and playing to their strengths.

The result? A 7-0-1 run as Vegas won the division with 95 points, a number which had it been in the Eastern Conference, wouldn’t have been good enough to make the postseason.

But that’s nitpicking. And now, it’s full steam ahead for a franchise that is going to the playoffs for the eighth time in its nine-year history, has won its division five times and has one Stanley Cup championship to its credit in 2023.

The Knights will face Utah in the first round. The NHL will announce the postseason schedule following the regular season’s wrap-up Thursday night. Vegas is expected to host Game 1 Sunday with Game 2 likely on Tuesday. The Mammoth were 2-1 against the Knights this season.

“Each day, it’s been about trying to be what we want to be,” Tortorella said. “It wasn’t about changing the system. It’s been about changing the mind.”

When the team decided to make the change behind the bench on March 30, it brought Tortorella in not to change things, but to provide a different voice and try to generate a spark. He has managed to reach his players and they have responded. “Trust” is the right word to describe what has taken place over the last 17 days. Without it, this move would’ve likely failed.

Tortorella trusted Carter Hart to be his goaltender of choice going forward. Since returning to action, Hart is 6-0. It’s his net and you can thank his relationship with Torts from when both were in Philadelphia for the move away from Adin Hill and Akira Schmid. Wednesday, Hart stopped 22 of the 23 Seattle shots he faced to win his sixth straight.

McCrimmon gets the primary assist for this one as it was his decision to sign Hart back in October after the NHL approved Hart’s return to play following the trial in Canada where he was acquitted of sexual assault from when he was playing junior hockey. If he doesn’t make that call, who knows where this team would be?

The second trust factor was with the team’s defense corps. Tortorella wants them involved with the rush and it has done a lot for Shea Theodore and Rasmus Andersson along with Noah Hanifin and even Brayden McNabb and Jeremy Lauzon.

“I don’t know about freedom, but I think the aggressive mentality that Torts always talks about, he’s encouraging that,” Theodore said. “There’s times to be aggressive and times to not be, but we need our forwards to be supportive and that allows the D to be up a little more.”

Yes, the Knights have found themselves on the short side of an odd-man rush on occasion. But it hasn’t gotten to the point where Tortorella had to reel his D back in. They are still being told to defend their end and block shots — a Torts non-negotiable — and with Hart playing strong in goal, the defensemen have been able to play a little higher-risk, higher-reward hockey. That and the forwards have done a better job of being accountable in their own end.

Which brings us to Mitch Marner.

That Tortorella is a big fan of No. 93’s overall game has boosted Marner’s late-season productivity. He’s playing with Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden on the second line and whether it’s as a center or a right wing, Marner is putting up good numbers.

In the eight games that Tortorella has been behind the Vegas bench, Marner has four goals and five assists. He’s also going to have played all but one of the 82 games in his first year with the Knights. He’s second to Jack Eichel in scoring and while he won’t reach the total of his career-best season of 102 points from a year ago with Toronto, he has been very productive as a Golden Knight.

Wednesday, Marner’s goal 1:23 into the third period broke a 1-1 tie. It was his 24th goal of the year and 80th point. Theodore’s goal late in the second period got Vegas even after Seattle had an early second-period goal to lead 1-0.

But with the postseason on the horizon, the Knights look like a comfortable and confident group.

“Everyone looks more comfortable and that’s a good feeling to have going into the playoffs,” Theodore said. “You always want to be peaking at the right time so feeling good about your game is the most important thing.”

Eichel said he’s not a big believer in momentum, that every game, every shift has its own identity. But he said the current form the team has shown under Tortorella has been positive.

“It’s a combination of a few things,” Eichel said. “I think we’ve found a little energy, a spark. That always helps. Guys have been playing quicker and letting their instincts take over a little bit, which has been good.

Systematically, we’ve been trying to play more aggressive and a little bit faster and I think it’s paid off.”

Now the trick will be to build on the late-season success. Tortorella’s influence will be more noticeable now that there’s a singular opponent to prepare for dissect and try and exploit its weaknesses.

It’s a trait Torts is good at. He knows how to make a deep run and win a Stanley Cup. He also knows how to spring an upset as was the case i9n 2019 when he was in Columbus and the Blue Jackets, the second wild card in the Eastern Conference  eliminated Tampa Bay with a sweep of the Lightning, which had won the Presidents Trophy, for there franchise’s first playoff series win.

Here, the mandate will be different. Make a deep, sustained run and try and capture the Stanley Cup. Tortorella is not signed beyond the postseason in Vegas so whatever is accomplished will likely determine whether he remains behind the Vegas bench.

So far, he’s made a strong case for retention. Three weeks ago, just getting into the playoffs was in question. Wednesday, the division is theirs, their spot in the playoffs is set with home-ice advantage for the first two rounds and it’s a confident group that will make its run at a second Cup.

“I want us to feel good about ourselves,” Tortorella said prior to the game with the Kraken. “We need to finish this off the right way.”

A 7-0-1 record and 15 points en route to a division title is certainly the right way to finish. Now it’s on to part 2.

“It’s nothing elaborate,” Tortorella said. “It’s about playing fast and playing forward. We want to be aggressive. We want to be up the ice. We want to take away time and space in all three zones. It’s not a crazy formula. It’s a mindset. It’s a lot of hard work but I think we’ve found some consistency and they feel more comfortable with it.”