How the Golden Knights Became a Real Team at the Right Time

The Vegas Golden Knights are heading to their third Stanley Cup Final in franchise history after sweeping the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final on Tuesday. The Golden Knights were playing their best hockey of the season heading into this series, but to think that they could continue their run and get past the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche seemed out of reach, never mind doing it in just four games. But they did it, and in the most impressive form possible.

We still don’t know who their opponent will be, but it’s important to look back before we look ahead. The Golden Knights were mired in inconsistency for much of the season. They couldn’t buy a save, and if they had lost even half of the games in regulation that they lost in overtime, they would have missed the playoffs. So, how did they get here?

Shocking Coaching Change Pays Off

On the morning of March 29, the Golden Knights had a 32-26-16 (80 points) record and ranked third in the Pacific Division, just four points up on the Los Angeles Kings, who were out of a playoff spot. They were fourth in the NHL on the power play and sixth on the penalty kill, but were 15th in goals scored per game and 19th in goals against. They were 16-12-9 at T-Mobile Arena and 16-14-7 on the road, which is well below .500% if you include the overtime losses.

Plain and simple, with all of the talent and experience on the roster, they should have been much better than they were. By the time the day was over, head coach Bruce Cassidy had paid the price, and John Tortorella was the new bench boss with just eight games left in the regular season. In those final eight games, the Golden Knights were 7-0-1, second in goals scored per game, and first in goals against.

Now, 16 playoff games later, Tortorella is heading to his second Stanley Cup Final, 22 years after he won the Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. Vegas has gone 19-4-1 since Tortorella was hired and looks like a completely different team.

“After spending a couple of weeks with the team, you could tell it’s a really good group,” Tortorella said after Game 4 on Tuesday night. “I’m thrilled for the opportunity to be along for the ride with them.”

Tortorella has often mentioned that he doesn’t have to do much behind the Golden Knights’ bench or in the locker room. This isn’t a team that he needs to tell what to do, but one he listens to. With the experience in that room, that checks out.

“I think that’s the way he communicated with us on a day-to-day basis,” Jack Eichel said of Tortorella. “It’s his message, his demeanor. It’s definitely felt like a group effort. He’s constantly coming to us for feedback.”

The Tortorella that we have come to know over the last three decades can be loud, brash, and aggressive towards players, referees, and the media. While there have been moments like that during his time in Vegas, it’s clear he is trying to take more of a backseat. Joining the team so late, it makes sense that he would get the lay of the land before throwing around his authority.

Ultimately, it’s the players who have finally become the team that they were supposed to be. However, Tortorella was the man they needed to bring it out of them.

Carter Hart Finally Stabilizes Goaltending

Show me a coach who has been fired in the last decade, and I’ll show you a struggling goalie. In this case, there are three. Akira Schmid (29 starts), Carter Hart (18 starts), and Adin Hill (27 starts) shared the crease for most of the season, and Carl Lindbom chipped in for eight starts.

As a group, their .879 save percentage (SV%) was the sixth-worst in the NHL. While their goals-against average (GAA) was a respectable 2.89 (10th), Vegas allowed the second-fewest shots (2,000), which means both of those numbers should have been better than they were.

Schmid and Hill carried the bulk of the starts, and neither of them played well. But, since Hart has taken the crease and run with it this postseason, I’ll focus on him. In 18 starts, Hart was 11-3-3, with a .891 SV% and a 2.71. In his six starts with Tortorella behind the bench, however, he was 6-0-0 with a .930 SV% and a 1.66 GAA.

Despite a mediocre Round 1 against the Utah Mammoth, Hart has arguably been the best netminder in the playoffs, and without him, the Golden Knights could have found themselves in a much different situation. He is 12-4 this postseason, with a .924 SV% and a 2.22 GAA.

Against the Avalanche, the Golden Knights were the better team from the opening of Game 1. That being said, in a series like that, against an opponent like that, all it takes is one big goal to change a team’s fortunes, and the Avalanche never scored that goal. Even in Game 3, when Colorado jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, Hart shut the door and allowed his team to get back into the game.

The Montreal Canadiens and the Carolina Hurricanes, who are battling it out in the Eastern Conference Final, both have prolific offenses, so Hart’s job is not done. However, as the team has turned things around since March 29, so has Hart, and the Golden Knights wouldn’t be here without him.

Golden Knights Special Teams Still Clicking

While there were times this season when their power play struggled, one could argue that special teams have been the most consistent aspect of the Golden Knights, and that has continued in the playoffs. In the regular season, they ranked sixth with the man advantage at 24.6%, and seventh on the penalty kill at 81.4%. In the playoffs, their power play is 23.9%, and their penalty kill is 87.5% – both are ranked in the top five.

Their power play has scored some big goals in some big moments, but it’s the penalty kill that has really contributed to Vegas’ success this spring. They have been short-handed 48 times and have allowed just six goals, and, more impressively, they have scored four.

There was one moment when I really started to believe in this team, and it happened on the penalty kill. In Game 3 against the Anaheim Ducks, the Golden Knights took eight minutes’ worth of penalties in the first 10 minutes of the game, and killed off all eight minutes. They lost the game 3-1, but the Ducks had one of the best power plays going, and the Golden Knights found a way to neutralize that threat, which allowed them to take over other areas of the game.

Their 5-on-5 game has always been strong, but their special teams have allowed them to stick to their game and not worry about the special teams battles.

Vegas’ Balanced Attack Leads the Way

The Golden Knights were a pretty balanced team when it came to putting pucks in the net during the regular season. Pavel Dorofeyev led the way with 37 goals, and they had five other players who scored 23 or more. In total, Vegas had nine players score 10 or more goals, but only six with more than 40 points.

The players that the team relies on have been incredibly productive this postseason, and that can’t be said of every team that made the playoffs, whether they’re still playing or not. Brett Howden and Dorofeyev both have 10 goals, Mitch Marner has seven, and Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev both have five. Even Tomas Hertl, who had a slow start to the postseason, has picked up his play and now has three goals and nine points. Only two forwards haven’t scored. This playoff run has been the definition of a group effort.

Road to the Stanley Cup Final Has Been an Evolution

The Avalanche were the best team all season and had an 8-1 record in the postseason before running into the Golden Knights. There was no growth or adversity. They were just a really good team until they met a team that knew how to beat them.

Something similar can be said about the Hurricanes, who are 11-1 and didn’t lose their first game of the playoffs until the Eastern Conference Final. No disrespect to the Ottawa Senators or the Philadelphia Flyers, but the Hurricanes got through them with relative ease, and while the Canadiens stunned them in Game 1, the Hurricanes quickly bounced back and haven’t looked back.

Unlike those two teams, the Golden Knights’ playoff run has been a trajectory of evolution. Round 1 against the Mammoth was a continuation of the regular season. They didn’t play overwhelmingly well, and in a lot of ways, they were playing with fire. They often played from behind and needed the third period or overtime to salvage a win. But when the chips were down in Game 6, they played their best game of the series and closed it out in six games.

In Round 2, the Ducks were the better team in both Games 1 and 2, and the Golden Knights were somewhat lucky to be tied 1-1 heading to California for Game 3. It was that game that really started to turn the tide for the team. Marner erupted for three goals and four points, and Vegas won the game 6-2. Yes, the Ducks won the next game, and Vegas barely won Game 5 in overtime, but there was something about Game 3 that seemed to plant the flag, as if to say, “We’re here now.”

Then, heading into the Western Conference Final, the Golden Knights needed to win Game 1. In both Rounds 1 and 2, they started slow and snuck out multiple comeback wins, including a few in overtime. Against the Avalanche, that formula was not going to work. Against Colorado, it seemed that if they got down in the series, it would be impossible to climb out of that hole.

Not only did they win Game 1, but they shut the door for the rest of the series. Nothing in the neutral zone, nothing in front of the net, nothing on the special teams, and it all added up to a dominating 4-0 series sweep.

I don’t think a healthy Cale Makar or Nathan MacKinnon would have changed the result. Yes, it would have made the series more competitive, but the Golden Knights knew how to shut down the Avalanche, and they would have found a way to win even if those two superstars had been healthy.

Between the regular season and the playoffs, this version of the Golden Knights was 98 games in the making. It took all of it to finally create a team that is going to be a really hard out in the Stanley Cup Final, no matter who they face.