‘We’ll be back here’: John Tortorella believes Golden Knights will force Game 7

Vegas Golden Knights fans could be forgiven for having their confidence shaken after dropping the last two games of the Stanley Cup Final, including Thursday’s 4-2 Game 5 loss. Vegas now trails the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in the series, and are just one loss away from falling short of their ultimate goal. However, Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella appears sure that his team will at least win Game 6 at home to force a Game 7 back in Carolina.

“We’re just going to get ready for our next game,” Tortorella said to the media after Thursday’s loss. “We’ll be back here, we’re just going to do it in a different order.”

Tortorella, who took over for Bruce Cassidy as Vegas’ head coach in late March, can have that kind faith in his team back in the friendly confines of T-Mobile Arena, as the Golden Knights have a 7-3 record at home so far this postseason.

Vegas will, however, have to win Game 6, and ultimately Game 7 should it come to that, without valuable two-way center William Karlsson, who left Game 5 with injury after getting hit into the boards by Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker. Karlsson wound up leaving the arena entirely, suggesting the injury could be severe enough to keep him out the rest of the series.

Tortorella was asked after the game about how he will manage his lineup without Karlsson.

“When we lose Bill it kind of screws things up, so we’ll see where we go with our lines,” Tortorella said.

When asked about the detrimental effect of his team taking two consecutive penalties in the second period, Tortorella took the opportunity to point out Karlsson’s importance, while also bolstering his belief that Vegas will win Game 6 and return to Carolina for Game 7.

“We lost momentum when we went back-to-back in penalties, and that was about the same time that we lost Bill,” he mentioned. “We’ve got to find a way. I’m going to leave my clothes here, that’s for sure. They’ll be in the hotel.”