John Tortorella was much more vocal at Thursday's practice at City National Arena. He made his voice heard towards the Vegas Golden Knights, specifically when a player screwed up. You could hear the expletives flow from his mouth as he unleashed a verbal tirade on his team.
That also included the Golden Knights participating in more rush drills, moving up and down the ice like busy beavers. Of course, those also included Tortorella's patented laps around the rink. Sometimes, it takes an old school approach to change the team's mindset so they can win a series.
That's what Vegas hopes to do after losing on Tuesday, 3-2. Sure, some fatal errors cost the Golden Knights in that game. Think of Rasmus Andersson accidentally kicking a puck into his own net as a perfect example.
However, it goes further than that. There are some things that irked Tortorella in that Game 2 loss that must be fixed. Heck, the Mammoth did some clever stuff that helped them defeat the Golden Knights on Tuesday. Let's look at what the boys in gold must do to take home-ice advantage back and take control of the series.
The Golden Knights must win the puck possession battle against the Utah Mammoth
Vegas Golden Knights fans noticed one peculiar thing about the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday. There was an unsually high number of icing the puck that Utah did. Now, I don't have a specific number on hand. However, people took notice of Utah's penchant for stopping the play with dumping the puck down the ice.
I've lost track of how many times Utah has iced the puck early in this game. It feels like every time the Mammoth touch it.
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) April 22, 2026
Make what you will of it. But the Mammoth slowed the Golden Knights down with this simple tactic. Therefore, the objective here is to ensure that Vegas wins the puck possession battle. What does that mean, you ask?
Well, it involves a bit of forcing Utah into making mistakes. This season, the Mammoth had the second-most giveaways per game (16.45). While their rush attack can be deadly, it also comes at a price, as proven by their 17 giveaways in Game 2.
That also involves the Golden Knights asserting their dominance across all three zones
This season, the Golden Knights have been surprisingly dominant in all three zones. How dominant, you ask (stats courtesy of NHL Edge)?
Zone Type | Percentage Of Time Spent | Rank |
|---|---|---|
Offensive Zone | 42.3% | 4th-highest |
Neutral Zone | 18.4% | Tied for 1st |
Defensive Zone | 39.3% | 4th-lowest |
Mind you, the Mammoth didn't place in the Top Ten in any of these categories, except for the defensive zone (10th in the NHL at 40.6%). Therefore, the objective here is simple: dominate the offensive zone and don't let Utah establish its game.
Vegas has a shot differential of +4.6, while Utah has +1.6. If there's one thing that Tortorella loves seeing from his team, it's winning the shots on goal battle.
That means that Vegas must camp out in the offensive zone and seal off the boards. The Golden Knights were outshot, 29-21, in Game 2. That can't happen again if Vegas wants to take the series lead on Friday, especially if they wish to gain home-ice advantage back.
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