VGK Face Do-or-Die Game Six Sunday Vs Carolina; Hurricanes Lead, 2-0, After Two Periods; Carolina 20 Minutes From Hoisting Championship Cup
Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne and J. Tyge O’Donnell
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Will Vegas Golden Knights coach John Tortorella be returning to his VGK hotel in Raleigh, North Carolina for Stanley Cup Final Game 7 where the man known as “Torts” said he left his clothing for a decisive ultimate game?
Or will the Carolina Hurricanes close out the series tonight and win the Cup on Vegas home ice at T-Mobile Arena like the Washington Capitals did in 2018?
The Golden Knights, notorious for their slow starts and falling behind their opponents this season, need to win Game 6 tonight or it’s off to the golf course.
Meanwhile, Carolina, which piled up the most points in the Eastern Conference, seeks its second Stanley Cup title in franchise history.
LVSportsBiz.com spoke with NHL Insider, ESPN broadcaster and former NL goalie Kevin Weekes about the VGK slow starts for our “5 questions in 5 minutes” feature, It’s a terrific interview and take a listen:
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The Golden Knights will be missing William Karlsson tonight. He absorbed a hit against the boards and he skated off the ice barely moving his arm in the second period of Game 5 in Raleigh where the VGK lost, 4-2, Thursday.
Karlsson’s fellow Misfit, Reilly Smith, was inserted into the lineup, while Tortotella swapped in Kaedan Korczak for Dylan Coghlan as the third defensive pairing. The biggest surprise was Torts taking out Keegan Kolesar and replacing him with Braeden Bowman.
The Knights had one of their notorious slow starts, mustering a mere shot on goal in the first seven minutes and trailing, 1-0, to Carolina on a goal by Taylor Hall. Jaccob Slavin launched Hall with a sweet stretch pass to set up the game’s lone goal through the first half of the game.
The second period featured hockey that hardly resembled the scintillating dramatic ice work we saw in the first four games.
Vegas’ play was reminiscent of its anemic performance displayed against Edmonton in last year’s postseason when the Oilers outmuscled VGK to knock the Knights out of the playoffs.
Another aggressive Carolina play resulted in Jackson Blake’s goal and a Hurricanes 2-0 lead in the middle stanza.
