The Vegas Golden Knights closed out their home practices with a scrimmage Saturday, aiming to keep their competitive edge sharp ahead of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday in Raleigh.
After sweeping the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final, the Knights had a longer layoff than usual. Coach John Tortorella gave the team Wednesday and Thursday off, then held practices Friday and Saturday before traveling to North Carolina.
“I thought the second part of the practice was important, just to get some bodies around them instead of running drills,” Tortorella said. “I just wanted to get some sort of game situation in because we had a few days off here. I thought it was a productive day.”
The scrimmage provided game-like reps without heavy checking, allowing players to keep their timing and intensity.
“Everyone is contributing and competing and doing the little things really well,” defenseman Noah Hanifin said. “We’re not relying on one or two guys to get us through games. Everyone is finding a way to dig in and contribute, and we’re getting great goaltending. We’re in that flow, which is where you want to be this time of year. Having this little break, our focus is making sure we stay with that and not lose our edge. We have to stay dialed in because we’re going to need it next series.”
The break could have been even longer, but Carolina wrapped up its series against Montreal on Friday night. Tortorella said the team was prepared for any scenario.
“We had a pretty good idea what the schedule was,” he said. “We were ready both ways whether the series was extended or not. We’re set. Our schedule is locked in and we’re ready to go.”
McNabb returns
Top-pair defenseman Brayden McNabb returned to practice Saturday after a maintenance day Friday.
“Opportunity to take some time to get rested,” McNabb said. “The team had a couple good days of practice, we’ll fly tomorrow and be ready for Tuesday.”
McNabb, who will play in his third Stanley Cup Final with the Knights, believes his experience can help ease the pressure on the team.
“We’ve been here before,” McNabb said. “We understand what goes into it. Media day is on Monday and it can be a lot, but we understand it and know what happens on those kind of days.”
Defenseman Jeremy Lauzon practiced again in a red no-contact jersey. It remains unclear if he will be ready to play or if he would re-enter the lineup given the team’s strong play.
Local hero
Cole Smith, who scored the series-clinching goal against Colorado, said the aftermath brought a flood of messages from his hometown of Brainerd, Minnesota.
“It’s really cool after the game and seeing all the people who are actually watching back home reach out to say congratulations,” Smith said. “That means a lot because it means you’ve touched a lot of people’s lives and a lot of people from my hometown are watching. You don’t realize how many people are actually watching you. It’s a special moment that we’ll have forever now.”
Smith anchors a fourth line with Keegan Kolesar and Nic Dowd that has been crucial in ways beyond the scoresheet.
“I think we’re just playing a simple, hard game,” he said. “I think we’ve bought into our identity and the role we need to play. We’re not going to go out there and score highlight-reel goals off the rush and that kind of thing. If we’re going to get points, it’s going to be in the hard areas. The bottom line is it’s not solely down to points for our line. It’s more trying to create energy and create a forecheck that guys can feed off of. Obviously we want to score and produce that way and when we do, it means a lot. But that’s not exactly what we need to do every night. We need to be a presence out there and help wear down the defense.”
