Golden Knights top Canucks in Tortorella’s debut

The Vegas Golden Knights (33-26-16) were victorious in their first game under John Tortorella, who made his Vegas debut Monday night after replacing Bruce Cassidy as head coach Sunday afternoon. The Golden Knights overcame two one-goal deficits and defeated the Vancouver Canucks (21-44-8) 4-2 thanks to a three-goal second period. Vegas got goals from Rasmus Andersson, Shea Theodore, Reilly Smith and Cole Smith, who netted his first as a Golden Knight with an empty-net goal to seal the win with 1:10 remaining in the third period. The Golden Knights were hesitant in the first period, which was their worst period of the night. The Canucks scored the lone goal of the frame after Jeremy Lauzon pinched but didn’t secure the puck. In his 1000th career game, Evander Kane beat Adin Hill on a 2-on-1 at 12:19 of the first. EVANDER KANE IN GAME 1000!!️ pic.twitter.com/qsT4Afwz89 — Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 31, 2026 Once again, the Golden Knights found themselves trailing after 20 minutes of uninspired hockey. However, they used the intermission (during which Tortorella reportedly addressed the team) to reset before a very strong second period. Tortorella tweaked the lines at the start of the middle frame, most notably switching Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner, with Eichel joining Brett Howden and Pavel Dorofeyev and Marner skating with Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev. Both lines responded, with Marner coming close to pulling off a highlight-reel finish with a between-the-legs attempt that went just wide. “I just thought we looked stale offensively as the game started,” Tortorella said after the game. “We just looked tentative. I liked the way the lines progressed as we went through the game. I thought there was some chemistry there; I thought everybody chipped in.” Just under eight minutes into the period, the red-hot Andersson activated in the offensive zone and beat Kevin Lankinen off a great feed from Tomas Hertl down low to knot things up at 1-1. It was the Swedish defenseman’s third goal in the last four games and 15th of the season, and the primary assist snapped Hertl’s 11-game pointless drought. goals in back-to-back games for Rasmus Andersson!!!! 👁️ pic.twitter.com/61JC7Bi2HK — Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 31, 2026 An unnecessary penalty by Keegan Kolesar set up a Vancouver power play, and Brock Boeser scored on a deflection to give Vancouver a 2-1 edge at 12:17. The Boes type of deflection. pic.twitter.com/LhkKbTXN5n — Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 31, 2026 But Vegas responded with another goal from the blue line, as Theodore walked in alone and beat Lankinen cleanly. what a snipe from Theo 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/owrm4pLb2r — Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 31, 2026 The Golden Knights scored again 1:17 later when Brayden McNabb’s cross-ice pass set up Reilly Smith on the backdoor. more of this, please!!!!! 🤗 pic.twitter.com/kIp3X1F1Rc — Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 31, 2026 The third period was a relatively low-event frame, and the Golden Knights played a fairly clean period to close out the win. Cole Smith scored the insurance marker to ice the 4-2 win, netting his first goal as a member of the Golden Knights. “An empty-netter from deep on the right side. It’s the first @GoldenKnights goal for Cole Smith!” 🎙️ @Dan_DUva & @garylawless 📻 @FoxSportsLV 94.7 FM / 1340 AM pic.twitter.com/k863O8JsxX — Golden Knights Radio (@VGKRadioNetwork) March 31, 2026 The Golden Knights snapped a three-game losing streak and came away with two important points, making Tortorella the fourth coach in franchise history to win his Vegas debut, following Gerard Gallant (2017), Pete DeBoer (2020) and Cassidy (2022). Hill turned aside 22 of 24 shots for a .917 save percentage, his best since March 17. It marked the fifth time he recorded a save percentage over .900 in 21 starts since returning to the lineup at the end of January after missing nearly three months of action. Needless to say, goaltending has been a key factor in Vegas’ tumultuous and inconsistent season, and it certainly had a hand in the coaching change. But Hill did enough, and the Golden Knights scored the all-important four goals to secure the win. Vegas has not scored four goals without coming away with at least a point this season. That being said, it’s important to point out that the Canucks are the worst team in the NHL, and it’s not close. In fact, the 31st-ranked Chicago Blackhawks have 17 more points than Vancouver. However, the players seemed noticeably lighter in their post-game availability. It’s unclear whether that’s from the fresh start in the locker room or from returning to the win column, though the former seems more likely. “We’ve been on a little skid here, so a big win like that can really propel you forward,” Cole Smith said. “The energy in the locker room is great; the boys are happy, and that’s a huge one. Hopefully we can take this momentum and keep stacking games here for the last few.” The players were more positive and more confident and seemed to be on board with the simplified message of playing “faster,” which was a point of emphasis by both the players and coach. “I think we took a good step forward tonight,” Cole Smith said. “I think in the first we were still a little uptight, but I think you saw in the second our gameplay really turned up and we played fast. So it was a great effort tonight, and it was a big win.” Theodore said that the team responded well to Tortorella’s message during the first intermission, though he declined to divulge any specifics. “Just really simplified our game,” he said. “Playing fast can really elevate our scoring chances. We’re not in our d-zone a lot, and I thought it really paid off.” Tortorella discussed the need for the Golden Knights to try to change their “mindset” rather than “reinvent the wheel.” Specifically, he wants the Golden Knights to play a more aggressive and “faster” style with more of a focus on playing north-south. “We looked nervous in the first period, and we were slow,” the new Vegas bench boss said. “The second period was night and day. In the first period, we were making way too many D-to-D plays, looking for our partner and playing sideways. The second period was so much better as far as playing north and playing up the ice. It gave us quite a bit of momentum.” Tortorella, who admitted that he made some mistakes and had to work through some rust, said he started to get a better feel for the lines as the game wore on. He said he plans to continue to move Marner around the lineup moving forward. At first glance, it appears as though the Golden Knights have bought in. But it has been one game against the worst team in the NHL, and it was a one-goal game for most of the night. That being said, the Golden Knights did what they had to do to come away with two points to start the Tortorella era on the right foot. They now have a few days off before they wrap up this four-game homestand on Thursday against Zach Whitecloud and the Calgary Flames. Tortorella intends to work on a few things in practice, though the message will continue to be straightforward. “To me, it’s a mindset,” Tortorella said. “I don’t want [the players to be] afraid to make a mistake. The mistakes being made have to be done through aggression, not by sitting back. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish. There will be a number of different subjects and situations we’ll go over to try to develop that mindset.” Historically, Tortorella has been known to bench players for making mistakes, but perhaps things will be different since he’s now coaching such an experienced, veteran group. Some areas of focus over the next few days could relate to the third period, which Tortorella said was a mixed bag. “We talked about trying to play up-ice, trying to check forward, trying to get up the ice and just not playing safe,” he said. “In the third period, some good stuff. Got a little stubborn at the blue lines late in the game. Instead of just playing north, we went sideways with it, which almost cost us. We’ll look at some tape and continue to teach and try to get the right mindset: an aggressive mindset of playing north and playing simple.” The Golden Knights have seven games remaining in the regular season and currently sit in third place in the Pacific Division. They trail the second-place Oilers by one point, though Edmonton has a game in hand. The Kings, who have two games in hand over Vegas, are six points back. Photo courtesy of the Golden Knights