Graney: Knights had to forge an identity before playoff run

Maybe that’s what they were lacking. An identity on and off the ice.

Bruce Cassidy was fired as the Vegas Golden Knights coach on March 29 and replaced with John Tortorella.

At the time, the team was closer to a wild-card playoff spot than it would have preferred. Then everything changed.

The Knights went on to capture a Pacific Division crown and sit one victory from a spot in the Western Conference Final.

They can clinch by beating the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 of a best-of-seven series on Thursday at Honda Center.

What was altered under Tortorella, according to players, was simple: He gave them a reason to believe, and they responded with a 7-0-1 mark under him down the stretch of a regular season.

But things were different on the ice as well.

How they played. How they succeeded.

How they manufactured such a run.

Having a plan

“I think this is a straight-ahead team that can play in different ways,” Tortorella said. “It can play underneath the hash mark. It can score off the rush. It defends well. We have a plan on how we want to play. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. The team that’s most consistently on its game is going to have the better opportunity to win.”

Tortorella has said that before arriving in Las Vegas, when he was a studio analyst for ESPN, that he watched more hockey than he had in years. Had a great feel for the league and teams in it.

What, then, did he think of the Knights and their long-term potential upon receiving the call to take over for the departed Cassidy?

“I’m not talking about that now,” he said on Wednesday. “We’re in the middle of a series.”

It was a roller-coaster of a season for the Knights, the class of the Pacific in mid-December before beginning their up-and-down ways.

There was a three-game losing streak and a five-game losing streak and a seven-game winning streak and another five-game losing streak. Nothing consistent to speak of.

They had lost seven of eight before Cassidy was shown the door.

But if confidence is the elixir that can turn such a season around, Tortorella discovered a way to instill enough of it into the room. It seems like such a small factor in the large scope of a season. It made all the difference in the world.

“We’re full of experience,” Tortorella said. “I’ve told you guys before — I’m not sure what is better: Experience or youth that has no clue what’s going on and doesn’t understand the pressures of it because they don’t know. Or the experience.

“It’s easy to talk about after a win but even when we lose, I’m not worried about the room. I don’t have to police them. There are some rooms coaches have to police to make sure they’re in there. We don’t need to be around a lot as far as that stuff is concerned. That’s the trust we have in one another.”

They were down 2-1 in a first-round playoff series to Utah and rallied to advance in six games. They were forced into overtime by a late goal from Anaheim of Game 5 on Tuesday and won in extra time.

Above the shoulders

It’s weird. The Knights this season made commonplace coming back from third-period deficits to win several games but somehow lost their way when it came from what was going on above the shoulders.

You need to believe in professional sports or your chances at winning are lessened considerably. Everyone has good players. The Knights needed to be reminded and, well, convinced they were good enough to make such a run as they are on.

That occurred and became part of their identity.

That, and goalie Carter Hart got healthy.

It all means they’re a win away from the final four of these playoffs.

“We’ve had some good minutes and struggled at times,” Tortorella said. “We’re just going to get ready for another game. We talk about this every day. They’re an experienced group that know how to respond.”

A long, roller-coaster type of season that’s on the upswing.