Golden Knights build on late season success under Tortorellla in playoffs

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — John Tortorella and the Vegas Golden Knights are off to the second round after pushing aside the pesky Utah Mammoth.

Vegas ground out three straight victories to finish off the Mammoth, winning 5-1 on Friday night in Game 6 after consecutive overtime wins. Vegas overcame third-period deficits in its first three victories.

After Tortorella took over as coach from the fired Bruce Cassidy, the Golden Knights closed the regular season 7-0-1. They went from a team struggling to stay in the playoff picture to winning a division title for the fifth time in nine seasons.

Depth, confidence, and experience helped Vegas make winning plays to close out tight games as the series progressed.

Mitch Marner and fellow forward Brett Howden specifically answered the bell with big plays. Howden had four goals in the series, and Marner had two goals and five assists.

“When you roll four lines, it doesn’t matter too much about where the faceoff is,” Golden Knights captain Mark Stone said. “You can just kind of put whoever out on the ice. But it’s always a new team every year. You always find out who you are in the first round.”

Utah’s speed forced the Golden Knights to get creative, and offered good preparation for what Vegas can expect to face in a second-round series against the Anaheim Ducks.

“This is a team that came at you with a lot of speed and skill,” Marner said. “They made us work throughout that neutral zone to really try and slow them down and shut down some of their offense.”

In particular, the Golden Knights excelled at denying Utah on the power play. The Mammoth went just 1 of 16 on the man advantage int he series.

Howden had two short-handed goals, the second in OT in Game 5.

“Johnny Stevens, our coach who runs that, had a really good game plan for them,” Tortorella said. “Blocked some shots. Carter (Hart) made some key saves all through this series. (Utah) gained momentum off of it, but we stayed with it.”

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Vegas Golden Knights center Colton Sissons (10) scores the goal against Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) during the third period of Game 6 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin (15) and right wing Mitch Marner (93) celebrate a goal against the Utah Mammoth during the second period of Game 6 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Utah Mammoth congratulate the Vegas Golden Knights after the game win to advance of Game 6 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Vegas Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella speaks after the game win against the Utah Mammoth of Game 6 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb (3) goes down after the puck against Utah Mammoth defenseman Sean Durzi (50) during the third period of Game 6 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

BERLIN (AP) — A rescue team on Saturday released from a barge in the North Sea a humpback whale that had been stranded in shallow waters near Germany since March, witnesses said.

Nicknamed Timmy by German media, the whale was spotted swimming near Germany’s Baltic Sea coast on March 3, far from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.

The mammal’s health deteriorated as it became repeatedly stranded in shallow waters near the coastal city of Wismar, and unsuccessful efforts to coax it toward deeper seas were livestreamed across the globe.

The environment minister for Germany’s Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state gave the green light for the attempt to save the whale, proposed by a private initiative, despite some warnings from the scientific community that it may be too much for the animal.

Jens Schwarck, a member of the private initiative who was on site, said the whale was released around 9 a.m. local time, according to the German news agency dpa. The agency reported that the whale was released 70 kilometers (about 45 miles) from the coast of Skagen, Denmark.

Drone footage showed a whale swimming and spouting water near the barge, though it was not immediately confirmed that the animal was indeed Timmy.

A debate emerged about whether to let the whale die in peace or try to assist its return to the Atlantic Ocean. Activists staged protests on the beach in Wismar calling for its liberation, while others have supported new ideas about how the whale could be transported.

Some scientists believe the whale had searched for shallow waters because it was weak and needed rest. The veterinarians of the private initiative, however, considered the animal fit for transport.

Before the release, a GPS transmitter was reportedly attached to track the whale’s future location, according to dpa.

It is not clear why the whale swam into the Baltic Sea, far from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean. Some experts say the animal may have lost its way while swimming after a shoal of herring or during migration.

Since then, the mammal became repeatedly stranded in shallow waters. It was in clear distress, breathing irregularly and often barely moving for days.

Timmy also suffered from a bad skin condition, related to the Baltic Sea’s low salt content, and rescuers applied kilos (pounds) of zinc ointment.

Local media produced dayslong livestreams to feed the outsized public attention over the fate of the whale. Online newspapers blasted push alerts with the smallest developments about Timmy’s health.

The humpback whale recovered from a shallow bay off Wismar is being transported towards the North Sea in a flooded cargo ship just before the Danish border in Fehmarn, Germany, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Philip Dulian/dpa via AP)

The humpback whale recovered from a shallow bay off Wismar is being transported towards the North Sea in a flooded cargo ship just before the Danish border in Fehmarn, Germany, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Philip Dulian/dpa via AP)