Adversity was going to come sooner or later for the Vegas Golden Knights under John Tortorella.

That time has come after the Knights dropped Game 2 of their first-round series to the Utah Mammoth 3-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

It’s the first time the Knights are put in a position to respond to Tortorella — how he manages his team after their first regulation loss under him, and how the team responds to his message.

Thus begins the chess match for the series. Tortorella has kept most of his thoughts close to the vest as far as how to attack Utah or how to adjust.

“We’ve got a couple of things we need to fix,” Tortorella said. “I’m not going to discuss it here, but it’s why it’s a series.”

Tortorella said before the playoffs that it was still too early to see how it looks when his team responds to adversity after finishing the regular season 7-0-1.

They wound up winning 4-2 in Game 1.

The players will lean on the premise that they’ve dealt with adversity all year. All the highs and lows through the regular season. Going through a coaching change with eight games remaining.

Those are the sort of things they can hang their hat on, and why they’re in a position where their first-round series is tied at a game apiece.

It wasn’t a fully angry Tortorella after the game, but there was some agitation in his three-question press conference.

The Knights got off to a strong start with a 10-6 edge in shots through 20 minutes. They even scored the first goal.

“I thought we were going to take off after the first period,” Tortorella said. “I really liked the way we looked there. We just got all disjointed.

But, Tortorella felt the Knights “lost our flow in the second.”

Part of that was due to a cavalcade of penalties that carried over from the first period. Utah broke through the stagnant flow with its speed and playmaking ability.

Led by their young stars Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther, the Mammoth took over to the tune of outshooting the Knights 23-11 in the final 40 minutes.

“They’re a fast team,” forward Brett Howden said. “They come through the neutral zone with speed. I thought we played our game for the most part in the first half of the game and then kind of got away from it.”

Forward Mitch Marner said slowing down Utah’s speed has to be a focus. The Knights did well to contain it in Game 1 despite needing a rally in the third period to complete the comeback.

Though the top six got goals from captain Mark Stone and winger Ivan Barbashev, the top forwards were kept quiet. Stone, Marner and Jack Eichel had one shot each.

Howden had two, and Pavel Dorofeyev had three.

“We had decent looks,” Marner said. “Maybe we’ve got to do a little better job in our o-zone of sustaining pressure and supporting each other. They do a good job of making it tight in the corner or in the spot they can pressure quickly.”

Game 3 is a time, historically, where the Knights find another gear. They’re 12-6 all-time in Game 3, including a 9-5 mark at home.

When the series is tied 1-1 and starting at home, they’re 6-3 in the best-of-7.

There’s plenty of hockey left to play. But it’s a series now with a raucous crowd expected at Delta Center for Utah’s first ever home playoff game.

“It’s awesome,” Cooley said. “It’s nice to get the win and a big goal in a big moment to get the series tied up going back home.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.