RALEIGH, N.C. — The Vegas Golden Knights are expected to have their full lineup for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night as they look to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Coach John Tortorella confirmed all the players who took part in the Game 1 victory were good to go. Forwards Mitch Marner and Mark Stone did not take part in the team's morning skate, but that has been common for them this playoffs.
Marner took a shot off the inside of his left knee in the final seconds of the opener on Tuesday night. Tortorella on Wednesday brushed off any sort of amazement about the play.
“Everybody does it,” Tortorella said. “I don’t think that’s anything special. I think that’s part of playing defense, especially at this time of year.”
Even though these teams got through the first three rounds with lockdown defense, Game 1 was back and forth with a goal 25 seconds in and a final score of 5-4.
“There’s a few things that we can do better, execute better," Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. "For the most part, though, it’s just about bringing it and being sharp and ready to roll. I think trusting our game is the biggest thing and being patient with it and finding ways to keep the puck out of our net.”
It was not clear if coach Rod Brind'Amour was planning to switch things up given the struggles of the top line of Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov that have lingered into the final. The trio has combined for just three even-strength goals against a goaltender in 15 games since the postseason began.
“You always think about it,” Brind'Amour said. “We’ve got to get some guys going, so maybe we’ve got to flip things. Everybody else, the results have been there. I’m not going to overreact (to) really one bad period of hockey here. We've got to just let it materialize a little more, and then obviously you’re making adjustments when you have to.”
In the second game of the second round against Philadelphia, Brind'Amour moved Jarvis down to play with Staal and Nikolaj Ehlers, and it worked. Jarvis scored the tying goal, the Hurricanes won 3-2 in overtime and went on to sweep the Flyers.
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