Game 1 is in the books for John Tortorella as the Vegas Golden Knights coach.

Monday’s home game with the Vancouver Canucks was the 75th on the Golden Knights’ schedule of this NHL season but the debut for the team’s newest coach. Tortorella was officially welcomed as the fourth coach in the team’s nine seasons in the league. Bruce Cassidy’s dismissal came quickly on an off day, less than 24 hours after Saturday’s 5–4 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals at home.

The 4–2 Vegas win at T-Mobile Arena saw the team respond positively during Tortorella’s debut. Down 1–0 at the end of the first period to Vancouver on Evander Kane’s 13th goal of the season, Vegas responded by rallying in the second period and scoring three times. Vancouver added a second goal in the period to make the score 3–2. However, late in the third period, Golden Knight Cole Smith scored on an empty-net goal with less than two minutes left in the game.

Although Cassidy led the Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup championship in 2023, the first in franchise history and achieved in his first season as the team’s coach, since then, the team has made early exits in the past two postseasons. In 2024, Vegas lost in Round 1 to the Dallas Stars, and last season, the Golden Knights were knocked out of the Stanley Cup tournament in Round 2 by the Edmonton Oilers. On Sunday, with the Golden Knights having lost 12 of their past 16 games, Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon made the coaching change and praised his new coach.

“With John Tortorella, we bring in a Stanley Cup champion as well as one of the most experienced and respected coaches in the NHL,” McCrimmon said in a statement. “His guidance will be a great asset to our team at the pivotal point in the season we currently face.”

With 75 games down and seven left on this season’s schedule, and with the Stanley Cup Playoffs about to begin on April 18, the spark of having a new leader on the bench for Vegas could propel the team further than the previous rounds they qualified for. Having taken 10 more shots on goal on Monday than the Canucks (34 t0 24), Tortorella’s aggressive game plan paid off before the home crowd of 17,810. Speaking with NHL.com’s Paul Delos Santos after the game, Tortorella was relieved to have his debut in the books.
Head coach John Tortorella handles bench duties during his first game with the Vegas Golden Knights, behind Reilly Smith #19, Brett Howden #21, Pavel Dorofeyev #16, and Mitch Marner #93 in the first period of the team’s game against the Vancouver Canucks at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 30, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
“There was some rust,” Tortorella said. “I got a good feel for the lines. Still trying to learn nicknames, like when you’re calling all people to go up, but it was good. I’ve leaned on the coaching staff quite a bit.”

Tortorella, a two-time Jack Adams Award winner (NHL coach of the year), last coached the Philadelphia Flyers in 2025. In his third year as the Flyers’ bench boss, with a disappointing overall 97–107–33 record, on March 27 of last season, Tortorella was fired. He was an assistant coach on Mike Sullivan’s staff for Team USA’s hockey team in this past February’s Winter Olympics in Italy.

Now in his 24th season as an NHL coach, Tortorella, who won the Stanley Cup while coaching the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004, has no guarantees that he will return for another season with the Golden Knights beyond any postseason play.

Hours prior to Monday’s Golden Knights–Canucks game, Tortorella told ESPN News Services how humbling it is to receive another shot at leading an NHL team.

“I’ve been in the league a long time,” said Tortorella, 67. “We won some, lost some, did some dumb things along the way. To get an opportunity at this point in my career to come here, are you kidding me? I just want to help. That’s what I told the boys today. We’re going to do it together. A good man lost his job. That affects these guys. Don’t think it doesn’t.”

Vegas handily remains in third place in the Western Conference Pacific Division (33–26–16). They are six points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings in the division standings. The top three teams of each division automatically qualify for the postseason. Colorado and Dallas have already clinched playoff spots.

Collecting his 771st win as an NHL coach on Monday, dating back to his rookie campaign in 1999 with the New York Rangers, the upcoming seven games (4 on the road, 3 at home) may be seen as Tortorella’s most important. His immediate coaching future may rely on their outcomes. Vegas skates next at home on Thursday with division rival Calgary Flames.

Tortorella ranks ninth in NHL history among winningest coaches.