Vegas Coach John Tortorella Makes Bold Claim

It wasn't exactly a Mark Messier moment, but Vegas Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella did his best impersonation, making a bold claim as his team heads home for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final down 3 games to 2.

They will need to pull off a win at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday night to extend the series to a 7th game in Carolina. And it sounds like Torts is pretty certain that's going to happen.

John Tortorella says "we'll be back here" -- seemingly guaranteeing that Vegas will force the Stanley Cup Final to Game 7.

"I'm going to leave my clothes here, that's for sure. They're going to be in the hotel." pic.twitter.com/8Xuak2n1tR
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 12, 2026

Call it a guarantee if you like. But Tortorella said, "We'll be back here... "I'm going to leave my clothes here, that's for sure. They're going to be in the hotel."

But they'll have to figure out a few things first if Torts is going to avoid a shipping cost of getting his clothes back home after Game 6.

1. How will they compensate for the loss of two-way center William Karlsson? He went down with what's thought to be a serious injury that is likely series-ending for him. A reshuffling of the lines will be necessary. We saw Mitch Marner out there with Jack Eichel and Mark Stone later in Game 5, we'll have to see how that goes.

2. They need to fix the special teams. Badly. The Knights’ power play is operating at a struggling 8.3%, while their previously dominant penalty kill has allowed Carolina to convert at a 36.4% clip.

3. They'll need a better performance from Carter Hart in net. Vegas's starting goalie has given up four goals in each and every game of the series thus far.

If they can do all that, Torts will have a nice fit behind the bench for Game 7.