RALEIGH — Coach John Tortorella is keeping the faith in his Vegas Golden Knights.
The Carolina Hurricanes topped Vegas 4-2 on Thursday night to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final. Game 6 is Sunday night in Vegas.
“We’ll be back here,” Tortorella said in his postgame press conference at Lenovo Center. “We’re just going to do it in a different order.”
Tortorella later added: “I’m going to leave my clothes here. That’s for sure. We’ll be in the hotel.”
Tortorella took over as Vegas head coach with eight games left in the regular season. He is 21-7-1 since taking the reins in late March. Throughout the Stanley Cup Final, he has praised his veteran team’s know-how as tested playoff competitors. Vegas is making its third Stanley Cup Final appearance in nine years.
The Hurricanes expect Vegas’ best shot.
“You have a team that you’re playing that knows how to win and has done it, and we know they’re not going away,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said.
Brind’Amour was captain of the Hurricanes’ 2006 Stanley Cup champion team. In that Final, Carolina led Edmonton 3-1 but lost Games 5 and 6 before winning in Game 7 at home. He’s mentioned that to his team.
“We talked about that already, a little bit,” he said. “It’s the hardest one, and we talk about this all the time.”
Vegas is expected to be without one of those proven playoff performers in William Karlsson, who suffered a left arm injury in Game 5.
“He’s an important piece to us – up the middle of the ice, penalty killer, power play guy. He’s a winner,” Tortorella said. “… We’ve got to find a way to fill that void, not with just one guy, but as a team.”
The Hurricanes, on the cusp of their second Cup in franchise history, are prepared for a crush of outside distractions, hoping to deal with ticket requests and travel logistics for friends and family quickly. The two-day break should help.
“It’s one of those good problems to have,” Brind’Amour said. “We’re going to have to dial it in.”
Brind’Amour said he doesn’t anticipate any lineup changes, further indication that rookie goaltender Brandon Bussi will start for the third consecutive games. Starter Frederik Andersen has been a healthy scratch in the last two games after being pulled in Game 4. Brind’Amour said Friday morning that everyone is available, the same line he used Thursday.
“I can tell you we’re probably not going to do too many changes to our lineup,” he said.