Locked On Golden Knights - Daily Podcast On the Vegas Golden Knights

Kelly McCrimmon announced this morning that John Tortorella will not be returning.  Is Ryan Craig next in line?  

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Mitch Marner went silent the last three games of the Stanley Cup Final.  And that got the Toronto media and fanbase buzzing. On top of tallying just one assist in the final three games, Marner also didn't show up for the post-game media availability after the Golden Knights were eliminated.  Narratives about Marner's playoff disappearing act resurfaced instantly.  Marner won't be able to dodge the media today on locker cleanout day for VGK.  Despite the Game 3 hat trick, fans and media are pouncing on him going silent the final three games.  We discuss our turning points of the Cup Final...

The Golden Knights were shutout by the Canes 3-0 Sunday night at the Fortress, ending the Stanley Cup Final series.  Carolina wins the best of seven series on VGK's home ice 4-2.  Brandon Bussi stopped all 22 shots he faced.  The Golden Knights offense was stifled by the Canes as VGK went 18:37 between shots in the second to third periods.  Taylor Hall started the scoring early as he got behind the VGK defense and beat Carter Hart. Jackson Blake scored the second Canes goal and a third period Nick Ehlers empty netter sealed the win for Carolina.  The Canes won the l...

The Stanley Cup will be in the building tonight at T-Mobile Arena.  The Golden Knights will have to win tonight plus one more game to capture the coveted Cup.  It's do-or-die for VGK.  If they lose, the season is over.  If not, it will force a seventh game in Raleigh.  The Golden Knights have lost two straight to the Canes. For the Golden Knights to win tonight, they need to play cleaner hockey and not turn the puck over as much as they have.  They also need to stay out of the penalty box, because the Canes scored two power...

The Golden Knights are back to square one without William Karlsson's services for Game 6.  He has an apparent broken wrist and Torts said he will be missing from the lineup.  Will this put Mitch Marner back to centering the second line?  VGK had major issues late in the season when they couldn't figure out how to roll four consistent lines when Karlsson missed 68 regular season games.  The Golden Knights  goaltending has been poor with Carter Hart in net. But Tortorella has expressed that he will not make a change to Adin Hill. We also talk about the stars having to st...

The Golden Knights struggled after scoring a first period goal in Thursday's 4-2 loss to the Hurricanes.  Carolina could eliminate VGK Sunday at T-Mobile Arena.  VGK looked listless after that.  Pavel Dorofeyev is the only player that scored for VGK and he put the puck in net twice to score his first goals of the Cup Final.  Andre Svechnikov scored twice for the Canes, both on power play opportunities.  It was a game in which the Golden Knights accumulated 10 penalty minutes.  The Golden Knights looked like the tired team.  The Canes were hitting VGK a lot during the early part of...

A lot is riding on tonight's Game 5 in Raleigh with the Cup series tied at 2-2.  The Golden Knights enter hostile territory as they look to gain an advantage.  Added incentive:  the Stanley Cup will be in the building at T-Mobile on Sunday night.  VGK needs to stop turning the puck over as they have had costly giveaways - especially by Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb in the Carolina zone. The last two games there have been 48 turnovers by VGK.  They also need to find an answer on how to defend Jordan Staal and keep him out of the blue...

The Stanley Cup Final becomes a best of three series after the Hurricanes took Game 4 5-3.  The Golden Knights missed the opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 series lead as they played a sloppy game, had poor puck management and had 23 giveaways, mostly unforced turnovers.  The Golden Knight let in the game winner as Jordan Staal scored as a result of a Shea Theodore turnover. Brayden McNabb also had a crucial turnover in the contest.  The series is tied at 2-2 but neither team has take control.  VGK has to play better around the blue paint defensively according to John...

The Golden Knights are looking to ride momentum and tighten its grip on the series tonight in Game 4.  A win by the Golden Knights will put the Hurricanes in a 3-1 hole that could be nearly impossible to get out of.  A lot of questions are to be answered tonight.  We will see who is still hurting from a physical third game?  Can Mitch Marner continue his torrid pace - he had the hat trick and four points while taking TEN shots in Game 3.  And we will see if the Hurricanes stick with Brendan Bussi who had a strong perfo...

Dylan Larkin has put the Golden Knights on his list of three teams he would be open to sign with via a trade.  He requested a trade last week after the Red Wings failed to make the playoffs for a tenth consecutive season.  This was one of the Wings most disappointing seasons as they collapsed late in the season.  They blew leads and couldn't get any complimentary scoring late in the season.  According to a report in the Free-Press, Larkin says he would welcome a trade to VGK, Florida or Minnesota.  Only Minnesota has a state income tax.  We discus...

The Golden Knights outlasted a game Carolina Hurricanes team 5-4 in double O.T.  to take a 2-games-to-1 series advantage in the Stanley Cup Final. Game 4 is set for Tuesday night in Las Vegas.  Following a scoreless first period, the Golden Knights scored four times in the second, including Mitch Marner's natural hat trick.  Tomas Hertl led off the scoring spree with a power play goal.  Then it was the Marner Show - scoring his first goal on an own goal by the Canes, he followed that up with a rebound goal and a breakaway goal.  VGK could have score...

As we preview Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, the major concern for VGK is the status of Brayden McNabb.  He was hit with an 87 mile per hour slap shot in the first period of Game 2.  He flew back with the team yesterday but we aren't sure if he will be playing tonight after getting hit in the face.  Each team has come back from multi-goal deficits in the series.  VGK returns to home ice with the series tied at 1-1.  We have our adjustments for Game 3 and the Locks, Props and Chance for the pivotal game. 

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John Tortorella told the media that he would challenge the contraversial goalie interference call 10 out of 10 times. His decision led to a power play for Carolina in the third period and led to a Canes goal.  VGK blew a 2-0 lead, as both Brett Howden goals came in the first two periods.  It appeared VGK was in cruise control before a frenetic Carolina comeback. The Canes won 4-3 in overtime.  Logan Stankoven scored the first goal, Mark Janakowski followed with a second goal.  And when Torts lost his challenge, the Golden Knights found themselves a man short and the Cane...

The Golden Knights will look to go up 2-games-to-none in Carolina tonight.  VGK, as we saw in the Avs series, is not content with a split in Carolina.  John Tortorella said Wednesday that he feels his team wants to seize momentum heading back to Las Vegas for Games 3 and 4.  But, he said his club has to clean up a lot especially in the turnover department.  We will see if the Canes come out fast again.  In the past three first periods they have scored eight goals.  VGK will try to create early offense to counter the anticipated early rush.  We have...

The  Golden Knights rallied from a 2-0 deficit to come back and defeat the Carolina Hurricane 5-4 in a wild affair in Raleigh.  VGK leads the series 1-0 and takes back home ice advantage.  Tomas Hertl scored the game-winning goal late on a feed from Colton Sissons on give and go.  The VGK rally began when Shea Theodore scored a goal through traffic in the first period. John Tortorella saw his team was nervous and he took an early timeout to calm them.  Theodore pinched too deep and overplayed the puck on the first of two Nikolai Ehlers goals.  The se...

Game 1 Showdown!   VGK and Carolina collide in Raleigh tonight as the Golden Knights are chasing their second Stanley Cup while Carolina hasn't been to a Cup Final in two decades.  We look for aggressive offense, tight defensive pressure and a battle between two red-hot goaltenders.  Both teams are playing their best hockey of the post-season.  We have our keys to the game and series our predictions for Game 1 and the series 

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Our Chris Gawlik joins Zachary Martin for a Crossover with Locked On Hurricanes as they preview the Stanley Cup Final.

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The Golden Knights must get production from its two superstars - Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner - if they are to capture the second Stanley Cup in franchise history.  Those two players are the points leaders in the playoffs currently.  Yes, the supporting cast must deliver, but Eichel and Marner must continue their scoring and playmaking to ignite their teammates.  We talk about the coaching matching as both John Tortorella and Rod Brind'Amour pride themselves to tight defense, blocking shots, and playing aggressive on offense.  They were both assistant coaches on Team USA in the Olympics.  We also have serie...

Bonus episode:

Early preview VGK vs Canes, McCrimmon tells Leafs fans to "Get over it!", and Cassidy still being blocked by VGK. 

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GM Kelly McCrimmon defending his firing of Bruce Cassidy and the hiring of John Tortorella late in the season.  McCrimmon, in an NHL.com interview said the Golden Knights were sinking from first to third place and could have been slumping out of the playoffs entirely, so he had to make a change. Torts has dramatically revived the season and has led VGK to its third Cup Final in nine years.  The team has seen a shift in culture and has been relentless in its pursuit of its second Stanley Cup.  We also talk about the ECF, as Carolina loo...

The Golden Knights are now 19-4-1 under John Tortorella.  As VGK prepares for its third Cup series, Torts has a minute to catch his breath after being hired behind the bench with just eight games remaining in the regular season.  He will try to become just the fifth coach in NHL to win a Cup after being hired in-season.  None have been hired with just eight games remaining.  Torts returns to the Cup Final for the first time in 22 years, after his Tampa Bay Lightning Team won in 2004.  We talk about the tweaks he made after his hiring and h...

The Golden Knights completed the four-game sweep of the President's Trophy-winning Avalanche with a hard fought 2-1 victory over the Avs at the Fortress Tuesday night.  The story of the game and the series was the teams suffocating defense, blitzing the puck, neutralizing the Avalanche through the neutral zone, covering passing lanes and blocking shots.  John Tortorella said the team "checked our asses off."  Captain Mark Stone and Cole Smith scored the goals for VGK.  Carter Hart saved 20 of 21 shots in the game.  We talk about Mark Stone's contributions - scoring two key goals since his return in the serie...

VGK is looking to wrap-up its Western Conference Final with a sweep tonight over the ailing Colorado Avalanche.  The Golden Knights enter tonight with a 3-0 series lead against the Avs who have major injury concerns with Cale Makar still injured and Nate MacKinnon and Val Nichushkin hurting from Game 3 injuries.  Cole Smith should be in the lineup according to John Tortorella.  The Avs have come out of the gate fast the past two games and scored three times in the first 13 minutes of Game 3, but VGK has kept coming in waves and getting complimentary scoring, especially in the las...

The Golden Knights rallied from a three-goal deficit for the first ever in the playoffs to pull off a comeback win over the Avs 5-3 to put themselves a win away from the Stanley Cup Final.  VGK erased the 3-0 first period lead by tilting the ice in the second.  They finished off a power play opportunity in the period on a Marner to Stone connection.  William Karlsson and Keegan Kolesar also potted their first goal of the playoffs.  There was a contraversial play in the first period that could have cut the margin to a goal behind for VGK...

VGK's top line fueled the 3-1 Game 3 win over the Avalanche to take a commanding 2-games-to-none lead in the Western Conference Final. Ivan Barbashev had two goals and a assist, Jack Eichel scored the tying goal in the third period and Pavel Dorofeyev had two assists in the win.  The Avs got on the board first on the Ross Colton goal late in the first period.  But Colorado appeared to try and milk the lead before Eichel and Barbashev scored goals in the third period over 2:07.  VGK will try to expand the lead to 3-0 Sunday afternoon.  The teams are...

The Golden Knights already have taken back home ice advantage but can VGK extend the series lead and go up 2-0?  It will be a difficult task because the Avs haven't lost back-to-back games since March, nearly four months ago.  Both teams feel they can play better heading into the second game of the series tonight in Denver.   The status of Mark Stone of VGK and the Avs Cale Makar, two key pieces, remains up in the air.  The Golden Knights had three goals off the rush and they look continue that Game 1 trend.  We will see how Colorado's Jared...

The Golden Knights seized home ice advantage by stealing Game 1 of the Western Conference Final 4-2 over the Colorado Avalanche. The script is now flipped as VGK got contributions from Brett Howden, Pavel Dorofeyev, as well as depth pieces Dylan Coughlan and Nic Dowd.  VGK's defense came up big blocing 23 shots in the game and Carter Hart was stellar again saving 36 of 38 shots on net.  The teams played with out two key pieces:  Mark Stone of VGK and Cale Makar of the Avs.  Both players skated Wednesday before the opener. Both could be back soon in the series.   We talk...

The WCF begins tonight in Denver as the Golden Knights will look to advance to the Cup Final.  But, it won't be an easy task.  The Colorado Avalanche are probably the best team in the league.  John Tortorella said Tuesday that the Avs have been by far the best team in the NHL.  How will VGK respond to the underdog role?  What will VGK do to steal a win in Denver?  We have some insight into how VGK could win the series.  But this is the one series so far that VGK has an opponent that is tough on paper a...

Our Tony Cordasco and Chris Miceli of Locked on Avalanche have a preview of the Western Conference Final.  We talk about storylines and there are many.  We have key players to watch, burning questions, X-Factors and more.  Get an inside look at the W-C-F, which begins Wednesday. 

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Jack Eichel and Nathan McKinnon are primed for and epic duel on the top line, but it probably will come down to forward depth and contributions by complimentary players.  We break down the forward lines and we look at how they will match up.  Both John Tortorella and Jared Bednar are probably going to make a lot of in-game adjustments, but the matchups will matter in the WCF, which gets underway starting Wednesday.  VGK's third line will be important because Torts alluded to the Hertl line having to match up a lot with the potent top line of the Avs...

VGK is facing repercussions as a result of John Tortorella and the team defying league media protocols.  The latest incident happened last week when Tortorella blew off the post-game media session to say that he and the club had to catch a flight back to Las Vegas.  Torts was fined $100,000 as a repeat violator.  And the Golden Knights face losing the 2nd round pick in this year's draft.  The appeal is expected this week in New York City in front of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.  Tortorella was humble at Saturday's media gathering.  He said the team issued a comment on the...

The Golden Knights closed out their second round series vs the Ducks with a resounding 5-1 victory in Anaheim Thursday night.  VGK advances to the Western Conference Final for the fifth time in their nine-year history.  The Golden Knights now play the Avalanche in the WCF.  VGK started off with a spectacular Mitch Marner between-the-legs goal off a stretch pass from William Karlsson just 1:02 int the contest.  VGK would strike twice more on a Brett Howden shorthanded goal and Shea Theodore's power play goal.  Later, Pavel Dorofeyev scored two goals in the final period.  Mitch Marner has been the best p...

The Golden Knights can close out the series against the Ducks Thursday night by winning in Anaheim.  Brayden McNabb's interference/game misconduct penalty resulted in a one-game suspension by Player Safety. We are not sure of the status of Mark Stone or Jeremy Lauzon, so VGK could be short three key starters in the elimination game. We talk about key adjustments for the both teams in Game 6.  If VGK fails to close out the Ducks, they head back to T-Mobile Arena Saturday for a 7th game showdown.  We also have Locks, Props and Chance for Game 6. 

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Pavel Dorofeyev's overtime heroics gave the Golden Knights a 3-2 win and a 3-2 series advantage.  He was set up by Jack Eichel on a shot off Lucas Dostal's right pad and was cleaned up by Dorofeyev for the GWG.  It was Dorofeyev's second goal of the game.  Tomas Hertl also scored a goal for the second straight game.The Golden Knights can close out the Brayden McNabb's interference/game misconduct penalty explained. VGK stall tactics continue with the Edmonton Oilers asking for permission to interview former head coach Bruce Cassidy.

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Are stall tactics in play with the Edmonton Oilers asking for permission to interview former head coach Bruce Cassidy?  According to a report from insider Frank Seravalli the Golden Knights are keeping the Oilers waiting.  Cassidy is still under contract with VGK for another year at $4.5 million.  The Golden Knights would have to give permission to any team that wants to interview the fired coach. Cassidy is also in play to become the next head coach of the L.A. Kings. 

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John Tortorella is concerned about his team spending too much time in the penalty box in this series.  He wants the group to be more disciplined in Game 5.  VGK was ranked second in penalties this season, but has been playing more aggressive since Torts arrival.  They also can be committing penalties due to the speed of Anaheim, as they try to deny entries, etc.  VGK also has to stop turning the puck over - unforced turnovers have been a problem.  We will see what each team does to adjust in Game Five. Joel Quenneville made three lineup changes in Game...

The Golden Knights stumbled on the road in 4-3 loss to Anaheim.  The Ducks tied the best-of-seven at 2 games apiece. VGK made a late push as Tomas Hertl scored a goal on the 6-on-5.  It was Hertl's first goal in 30 games. The Golden Knights also had goals from Brett Howden and Pavel Dorofeyev.  Minus Mark Stone, the Golden Knights gave up two goals on the power play.  We talk about the impact of the injury loss to Stone.  And we have questions about whether Reilly Smith should have drawn in before Brandon Saad. 

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Mitch Marner's natural hat trick and four point game lifted the Golden Knights to a 6-2 win at the Pond in Anaheim in Game 3.  VGK takes a 2-1 series lead after a dominant Ducks performance in the first two games of the series.  Game 4 is set for Sunday in Anaheim.  The Golden Knights needed an early start and Shea Theodore potted the opening goal just a minute+ into the game.  VGK had a killer goal with about :05 to go in the first period by Marner to take a 3-0 lead after one and the Ducks were swimming upstream the rest...

The Golden Knights will aim to win at least one game this weekend in Anaheim against a team that has dominated the series in a variety of ways.  Although the series is tied at 1-1, the Ducks feel they have momentum heading back home. VGK wants to take back home ice advantage this weekend.  We have our adjustments and lineup changes could be in order, especially to sit an ineffective Keegan Kolesar.  The Golden Knights are going to have to use whatever depth they have to try to slow down the Ducks, who are the speedier team.  We also have...

VGK started Game 2 by shutting down the potent Ducks power play.  In the first period, the Golden Knights committed four straight penalties, including a Jack Eichel double-minor.  VGK killed off 1:38 of a Ducks 5 on 3 during that span.  But having to kill off that many penalties early on, might have taken VGK out of sync.  At one point the Golden Knights were outshot by the speedier Ducks 15-4.  Mark Stone had the only goal for the Golden Knights as he tipped in a Jack Eichel shot with just 6-seconds remaining.  We are surprised there has been no physicality in this series...