John Tortorella not reinventing the wheel with Golden Knights

It was a good start for the John Tortorella-era of the Vegas Golden Knights, defeating the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Monday night.

“There was some rust,” Tortorella said to reporters after the game. “I got a good feel for the lines. Still trying to learn nicknames, like when you’re calling all people to go up, but it was good. I’ve leaned on the coaching staff quite a bit.”

The Golden Knights are now 33-26-16 for 82 points in 75 games, good for third place in the Pacific Division and one point back of the second-place Edmonton Oilers.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss Tortorella’s first game with the club and what he can bring to a Vegas lineup that’s looking to build momentum going into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I watched a good chunk of the Golden Knights-Canucks game, and it was a dominant five-on-five game for Vegas. It was against a team that they should be dominating in the Vancouver, and it didn’t really feel like anything different than what we’ve seen under Bruce Cassidy.

I guess that lends to the point of Tortorella not coming in to reinvent the wheel, he’s just coming in to try and spark this team a little bit.

Carter Hutton: I think it’s like Rick Bowness and the Columbus Blue Jackets, where they look at little fine details in the defensive zone and little things they might need. It’s hard enough to really change the way a team plays throughout a hockey season with the lack of practice and the lack of time off, because of rest and the Olympic schedule.

It is really challenging for coaches without enough time to work things into the lineup. But I thought last night, he got a little bit of a taste of what Vegas is like.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…