He believes coaching depends on the type of team you have. With a younger side, Golden Knights coach John Tortorella might have to act differently. But, he says, he’s lucky to have this current group.

That when difficult situations arise, they can calm themselves down and stay positive.

Well, it wasn’t an easy situation Wednesday night in front of 18,033 at T-Mobile Arena.

But in the end, all the positive feelings went toward the Knights, who outlasted Utah 5-4 in double overtime via a Brett Howden short-handed game-winning goal.

It means the Knights hold a 3-2 advantage in the best-of-seven series.

“There are tough times during periods, tough swings of emotions,” Tortorella said. “For us, that’s pretty much taken care of by the guys on the bench. It’s a good group that way and very important when it comes to moving forward in the series.

“When it’s getting a little too high or low, everyone just kind of checks one another and makes sure we’re staying on that plane and just getting ready for the next shift.”

It’s what allowed them to win Game 4 in overtime after blowing a 3-1 lead. What allowed them to win a Pacific Division title and gain home-ice advantage over the first two rounds of the playoffs (assuming things last that long).

Game 6 is on Friday back in Utah. And don’t doubt for a second Mammoth fans won’t be psyched and ready to counter the energy and noise coming from T-Mobile Arena in this one.

It wasn’t a Wednesday night when the Knights had to rally entering the third like so many games this season.

Two second-period goals took care of that.

Pavel Dorofeyev, benched for most of the third period in Game 4, scored his second of the game — the first came via a power-play goal — from in close.

He would add another huge one later.

It was then Game 4 hero Shea Theodore’s turn as he scored from the point for a 3-2 Knights advantage after 40 minutes.

It began as you might expect, with each team accounting for seven shots on goal throughout the first period.

Nobody taking control with so much at stake.

Nobody wanting to make that glaring mistake.

“Our group believes we can win every night,” Knights defenseman Jeremy Lauzon said prior to Game 5. “We did it the whole year, coming back in games. Guys in the room just know how to keep everything calm.

“We didn’t have a great year. We had a lot of highs and lows. But we were first in the division. Maybe we doubted ourselves some games this season but we are a really good group, a really good team. I feel ever since (Tortorella) has been here, we realize how good we can be.”

They were good to begin the third period. At least the penalty kill was. The Knights killed off all of a double minor assessed to Cole Smith, but the good vibes didn’t last long.

Utah would tie things at 3-3 when the Mammoth off a face off would get loose through the neutral zone and score via a 2-on-1 when Dylan Guenther beat Knights goalie Carter Hart.

Speed kills, no? And the Mammoth have a ton of it.

You saw that not a few minutes later, when a Jack Eichel turnover turned into another 2-on-1 for Utah that ended with Michael Carcone shooting it past Hart for a 4-3 lead.

If puck management is the name of the game for success, the Knights certainly struggled with it the second half of the third period. Which is when Utah made its push.

But it would be Dorofeyev who would clinch his hat trick with 52.7 seconds remaining in regulation to tie things at 4-4 and force overtime for a second straight game in the series.

It would be him who brought the roof down … before Howden did so again in double overtime.

“Playoff hockey can be a roller-coaster, right?” Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb said in previewing Game 5. “It’s about managing your emotions and swings of the game. It’s important we’re in control. We have a veteran group that understands situations. “Sometimes, things don’t work out, but you have to be able to manage it and control it.”

They worked out for the Knights on Wednesday.

One more win, and it’s onto the next round.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.

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