Knights notebook: Tortorella makes wholesale changes to lineup for Game 6

Golden Knights coach John Tortorella tried to provide a spark in any way he could.

Guaranteeing there would be a Game 7 by leaving his clothes at the hotel in Raleigh, North Carolina. Doubling down on his trust for goaltender Carter Hart.

Sunday, he tried wholesale lineup changes. In the end, that didn’t work in the 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Tortorella needed a new forward in place of the injured William Karlsson. That wound up being Original Misfit Reilly Smith, skating in his first game since the Game 6 clincher in the first round against Utah.

Smith played just 9:21 and didn’t have a shot on goal.

That wasn’t the only change. Rookie winger Braeden Bowman made his Stanley Cup Playoff debut on the fourth line in place of Keegan Kolesar.

Bowman played a team-low 9:12.

Defensman Kaedan Korczak played 13:58 in his first action since Game 4 of the Western Conference Final against Colorado, replacing Dylan Coghlan.

Neither of the three had a shot on goal.

It was a last gasp of desperation for the Knights to try and extend their season. In the end, neither player played long enough to make a lasting impact.

No goals for Eichel

After playing his best game of the series in Game 5, center Jack Eichel once again came close to finding the back of the net.

Eichel had a chance to cut the Carolina lead in half in the waning stages of the third period, but he hit the crossbar on a 2-on-0 in front of the net on the power play.

It summed up Eichel’s run throughout the series — coming close on a number of chances, but not finishing the job.

Eichel has not scored a goal in two Stanley Cup Finals, but his 12 assists are the most points without a goal in Cup Final history.

Undrafted history

Game 6 was a historic day for undrafted players.

Sunday marked the second Stanley Cup Final in the past 39 years to have multiple undrafted players making their NHL playoff debuts during the Cup Final.

Bowman and Carolina goaltender Brandon Bussi were the first players since 2020. Dallas’ Nick Caamano and Tampa Bay’s Alexander Volkov made their debuts during the series that was decided in an Edmonton bubble due to the COVID-19 pandemic.