{"id":544385,"date":"2026-04-06T21:34:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/544385\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T21:34:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:34:20","slug":"vegas-golden-knights-week-ahead-schedule-storylines-tortorella-era-tight-pacific-race-and-more-the-hockey-writers-vegas-golden-knights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/544385\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegas Golden Knights Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Tortorella Era, Tight Pacific Race and More – The Hockey Writers – Vegas Golden Knights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is a look at the key storylines surrounding the Vegas Golden Knights and their upcoming schedule for the week of April 6-13, 2026.<\/p>\n

The John Tortorella Era Begins<\/p>\n

The absolute biggest story surrounding the Golden Knights right now is their shocking late-season coaching change<\/a>. On March 29, with just eight games left in the regular season, Vegas abruptly fired head coach Bruce Cassidy. <\/p>\n

Despite the team holding a playoff spot, a mid-season slump prompted management to pull the trigger and bring in veteran bench boss John Tortorella. He is now tasked with reviving the team\u2019s momentum right before the playoffs.<\/p>\n

A Razor-Thin Pacific Division Race<\/p>\n

Vegas is in the thick of a fiercely competitive fight for the Pacific Division crown. Entering this week, the Golden Knights are sitting at 35\u201326\u201316 (86 points)<\/a>, in third place but trailing the division-leading Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks by just a single point. Every game on this upcoming schedule is critical for playoff positioning.<\/p>\n

Finding Their Stride Under Torts<\/p>\n

Since Tortorella took over, the team has shown signs of a serious spark. They are coming off two massive momentum-building wins\u2014a 6\u20133 victory over the Calgary Flames on April 2 and a commanding 5\u20131 blowout<\/a> against the rival Oilers on April 4. Analysts and fans are watching closely to see if this aggressive new system holds up on the road.<\/p>\n

Bizarre T-Mobile Arena Ice Issues<\/p>\n

On a lighter note, the team recently dealt with an unusual ice delay<\/a> at T-Mobile Arena during their game against the Flames, which was reportedly caused by a scientific issue with the painted logos under the ice surface.<\/p>\n

Golden Knights Upcoming Schedule<\/p>\n

The Knights are heading into a grueling, highly consequential four-game stretch. They will embark on a three-game road trip against Western Conference opponents\u2014a massive test for Tortorella\u2019s squad\u2014before returning home to Vegas to close out this seven-day window.<\/p>\n

DateOpponentLocationTime (EDT)Tuesday, Apr. 7@ Vancouver CanucksRogers Arena10:00 PMThursday, Apr. 9@ Seattle KrakenClimate Pledge Arena10:00 PMSaturday, Apr. 11@ Colorado AvalancheBall Arena8:00 PMMonday, Apr. 13vs. Winnipeg JetsT-Mobile Arena10:00 PM<\/p>\n

AI tools were used to support the creation or distribution of this content, however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of The Hockey Writers editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our Editorial Standards<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here is a look at the key storylines surrounding the Vegas Golden Knights and their upcoming schedule for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5129],"tags":[762,149,5317,5,348,4,74,39,5316],"class_list":{"0":"post-544385","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vegas-golden-knights","8":"tag-bruce-cassidy","9":"tag-golden-knights","10":"tag-goldenknights","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-john-tortorella","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-vegas","15":"tag-vegas-golden-knights","16":"tag-vegasgoldenknights"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116359914612508796","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}