Updated

Updated · ESPN · Jun 11

Golden Knights Target 4 Fixes for Game 5 as Hurricanes Seize Stanley Cup Final Momentum

Updated

Updated · ESPN · Jun 11

Golden Knights Target 4 Fixes for Game 5 as Hurricanes Seize Stanley Cup Final Momentum

Q: With a championship on the line, why is the coach who saved Vegas's season leaving the team after the Finals?

John Tortorella is leaving Vegas after the Stanley Cup Final because his job was designed from the start as a short-term assignment, not a long-term hire. When the Golden Knights brought him in late in the 2025-26 season, with only eight regular-season games left, general manager Kelly McCrimmon and Tortorella agreed that his tenure would end after the season, regardless of whether Vegas won the Cup. Tortorella has said publicly that “from the very beginning” the plan was for him to be done with Vegas at the end of June. Vegas hired him to rescue a team that had lost momentum under Bruce Cassidy and was in danger of missing the playoffs. Tortorella delivered exactly that spark. The Golden Knights went 7-0-1 to close the regular season, won the Pacific Division, and then advanced to the Final. Players and staff credited him with restoring energy, structure and confidence. His departure, then, is not a reaction to the Finals or a sign of internal turmoil. It reflects the original terms of the arrangement: Vegas wanted an experienced coach to stabilize the team for the stretch run, and Tortorella accepted a temporary role. With the season ending, that agreement is now set to expire even though he helped save their year.

3 articles · Updated · ESPN · Jun 11

Game 5 in Raleigh has become Vegas's reset point after Carolina's Game 4 win erased the chance for a 3-1 stranglehold and swung home-ice advantage back to the Hurricanes.
Jack Eichel's line is the first pressure point: Vegas has managed just 38.7% of shot attempts and been outscored 5-2 with him on the ice in the Final, prompting John Tortorella to reunite him with Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev.
Stretch passes are the second lever after Vegas completed 22 in Game 4 and turned them into 12 rush shots, exposing a Carolina defense that still gives up 22.2 successful stretch passes per 60 in the series.
Carter Hart is the third concern, carrying a .861 save percentage and 3.60 goals-against average in the Final after posting .924 and 2.22 over his previous 16 playoff games.
Third-period execution is the fourth fix: Carolina holds a 10-3 edge in the final frame, a sharp reversal for a Vegas team that led the NHL with 108 third-period goals in the regular season.