The Vegas Golden Knights suffered their first defeat under new head coach John Tortorella, falling 4–3 in a shootout to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. Despite the loss, Vegas still picked up a point and remains second in the Pacific Division, just one point behind the Edmonton Oilers.
Mitch Marner, however, brushed off the result, putting Tortorella’s first loss with the Golden Knights down to “really bad luck”.
Mitch Marner Downplays John Tortorella’s First Loss
Vegas got off to a strong start, with Mark Stone opening the scoring midway through the first period and adding a power-play goal early in the second to make it 2-0. The Kraken responded late in the period, and after Brett Howden restored the two-goal lead in the third, the game quickly swung on a couple of fortunate bounces. The Kraken capitalized, tying it 3-3 before Berkly Catton sealed the shootout win.
It marked Tortorella’s first loss since replacing Bruce Cassidy. Vegas had won four straight before Thursday’s setback but still managed to come away with a point.
Marner brushed off the result, pointing to unlucky breaks as the difference. “Well, I mean, really unfortunate bounce in the second one. Obviously, a dump in that goes right to their guy with an empty net. It’s tough to, you know, I mean that’s just really bad luck,” Marner said.
He said the team handled adversity well but noted they need to be stronger along the boards and cleaner in their puck movement late in games. “That’s an important play all over the wall. I mean, that’s where you got to win your battles and be good with the puck. So, yeah, we got to do better at that area,” he added.
Marner also recorded an assist, bringing him to 78 points in 78 games this season. While he’s still on pace for a point-per-game campaign, it’s a dip from the 102 points he posted last year.
Tortorella kept his postgame assessment simple, noting that his team had a two-goal cushion in the third before a bounce shifted momentum. “We’re looking to try to take the will away from them, they get a bounce. It gives them some life, so nothing we can do. We’ll take the point and get out of here,” Tortorella said.
He credited the Kraken’s speed and pushback, adding that this late in the season isn’t the time to overanalyze.
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Vegas will look to rebound quickly when they face the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
