As the Vegas Golden Knights enter Sunday’s must-win Game 6 down 3-2 in the Stanley Cup Final, Adin Hill is watching from the bench and John Tortorella is not flinching.
In five consecutive games at the outset of this Cup Final, Hart has now given up four or more goals, making him the first goalie in NHL history to achieve it in five straight games to begin a series.
That’s not a slump. Nobody wanted to hold that record.
But before it even began, the discussion was stopped by Tortorella, who was hired in late March. He snapped, “Oh, Christ,” when asked on Thursday if he thought about removing Hart. “That might be the dumbest question I’ve ever heard.”
That kind of defensive stance reveals all you need to know about the current situation in that locker room.
Carolina has been persistent. In 18 playoff games, Jordan Staal has 8 goals and 4 assists, with 6 of those goals coming in his last 10 games. He is playing like a man who knows this is his moment.
Adin Hill has done this before, on shorter notice and higher stakes
Svechnikov has been a power-play menace, scoring 4 PP goals in 18 playoff games. His low shot in Game 5 slipped through Hart’s pads and it was the kind of goal a sharp goalie stops cold.
Meanwhile, Hill sits on a six-year, $37.5 million contract and has not dressed for a game since April 9.
That is 64 days of watching. And waiting.
His track record in this exact situation is hard to dismiss. In 2023, Hill had not started in 61 days before being thrown into a tie game in the second round against Edmonton. He stopped all 24 shots. The Golden Knights won the Cup, and he finished that run with a .932 save percentage.
In this series, Brandon Bussi has recounted a comparable incident from the opposite side of the ice. The newbie has a .908 save percentage in three postseason games, replacing Frederik Andersen, who finished the regular season with an .874 save percentage. The swing Bussi gave Carolina is exactly the sort of lift Vegas needs from someone.
With 95 points, Vegas concluded the regular season with a 39-26-17 record. They possess the necessary skills. The question is if they can obtain saves that are beyond what they should anticipate.
It is understandable why Hart is so committed to Tortorella. Under Tortorella’s instruction in Vegas, Hart won 19 of his first 23 starts. Overnight, that kind of trust doesn’t go away.
But five straight games with four goals allowed is not a rough patch. Something has to give, and right now the Golden Knights look like a team that is hoping the problem fixes itself.
Hill is sitting there with a Stanley Cup ring, a .917 career playoff save percentage, and a contract that was signed specifically for moments like this one.
Whether Tortorella actually turns to him before this series ends is another question entirely.
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