Golden Knights eye fourth straight win under Tortorella against Canucks

The Vegas Golden Knights couldn’t have asked for a better start to the first road trip of the John Tortorella era.

Everything went the way they hoped, between playing a near-60-minute game against the Edmonton Oilers, to the Anaheim Ducks losing later in the night.

Suddenly, the Knights are one point back of first place in the Pacific Division.

That didn’t seem feasible a week ago when Torotrella replaced Bruce Cassidy and the Knights were barely clinging to a playoff spot.

Heading into Tuesday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena, the Knights have this boost of momentum that hadn’t been there for a couple months.

A three-game winning streak will provide a sudden boost of confidence.

“I’ve been here a week, and it looks like it’s a pretty open group,” Tortorella said. “I think they enjoy one another. You win some games and you feel good. It always helps.”

Tortorella has probably said the word “mindset” about 30 times to the media since he became the fourth coach in Knights history.

Not much has changed in terms of the way the Knights play except for the understanding of a more direct game.

There haven’t been many east-to-west plays. Tortorella continues to harp on attacking the net with the puck and the body.

It’s paid off with 15 goals in the last three games.

“I think they understand where they’re at in the season,” Tortorella said. “I think they know how to push one another. I listen to them on the bench. I’m excited to be a part of it.”

The top players are also starting to come alive over the last three games, particularly Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner.

Marner had his first hat trick with the Knights on Thursday in a five-point game, and Eichel had three assists Saturday in the 5-1 win at Rogers Place.

Tortorella has switched their wingers at times based on the feel he has for how the team’s going.

“It’s a lot of fun to play with everybody,” said Ivan Barbashev, who has played with both centers now. “Sometimes it’s nice. It’s good for our team, too.”

Tortorella chalked it up to Eichel and Marner being good hockey players, plain and simple, who can play with anybody.

“Such players, they just play. They don’t think,” Tortorella said. “They’re our top players. I think bouncing around with other people, it’s good for the other people to experience that.”

Tortorella’s run with the Knights started with a 4-2 win over Vancouver on March 30. He felt the team was “nervous” in the first period, but they started to get going in the second period.

The trajectory has trended upward in the two games since, especially on Saturday in one of the Knights’ best wins of the year.

“It’s a good team,” Tortorella said. “It has some defensemen that can move the puck. It has some quality forwards that are able to play fast. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. I just want us to be hard and I want us to be fast. Those are the things I’ve worked on over the last week.”

Up next

Who: Golden Knights at Canucks

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver

TV: KMCC-34

Radio: KFLG 94.7 FM/KKGK 1340 AM

Line: Knights -220; total 6½