Tortorella Backs Hart After 5th Straight 4-Goal Final Game

Q: A struggling goalie and a key injury: are the Golden Knights' hopes for a repeat championship already over before Game 6?

No — but Vegas is one loss from it, and the warning signs are real. The Golden Knights enter Game 6 down 3-2 and now need two straight wins against a Carolina team that has seized control of the Final. The biggest concern is in net. Carter Hart has allowed four or more goals in all five games of the series, an NHL first, and owns an .856 save percentage in the Final. That makes the question about turning to Adin Hill entirely reasonable, especially given Hill’s history of stepping into playoff pressure and backstopping Vegas to the 2023 Cup. The problem for Vegas is that John Tortorella has shown no public sign he is willing to make that switch. The injury to William Karlsson may be just as damaging. Karlsson is one of Vegas’s most important two-way forwards and a major part of the penalty kill. After re-injuring his left arm/shoulder in Game 5, he is expected to miss Game 6 and possibly more. That matters even more because Carolina’s power play has come alive in the Final, operating at 37.5 percent after being far less effective earlier in the playoffs. Still, Vegas is not finished yet. It is at home for Game 6, has a veteran core with recent championship experience, and has already shown resilience earlier this postseason. But the margin is gone. If Hart cannot deliver a stabilizing performance — or if Tortorella refuses to adjust and Carolina’s special teams keep rolling — Vegas’s repeat bid is likely to end Sunday night.

3 articles · Updated · Defector · Jun 12

Five straight Stanley Cup Final games have seen Carter Hart allow at least four goals, yet John Tortorella shut down any talk of a goalie change after Vegas' 4-2 Game 5 loss.
Tortorella called a postgame question about benching Hart "the stupidest question," signaling Vegas will stick with a starter who has played every minute of the postseason.
Hart had been strong before the final — entering the Carolina series with a .924 playoff save percentage after helping Vegas sneak in under Tortorella with a 6-0-0 late-season run.
Vegas still has healthy backup Adin Hill, a previous Cup-winning starter, but Carolina has gained an edge by making a quicker switch in net and now benefits from Hart's continued struggles.