The Vegas Golden Knights won their third overtime game of the postseason with a 3-2 victory in Game 5 against the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Vegas now leads the best-of-seven series 3-2 and has a chance to close out the series in Game 6 on Thursday.
After the Ducks potted the equalizer with 3:05 remaining in regulation, the Golden Knights came out swinging in overtime. Just over four minutes into the extra frame, Pavel Dorofeyev scored his second of the game and seventh of the playoffs to seal the win for Vegas.
Tomas Hertl scored for the second game in a row, while Anaheim got goals from Beckett Sennecke and Olen Zellweger.
Both goaltenders were stellar, but Carter Hart picked up his seventh win of the playoffs and remains undefeated in playoff overtime in his career.
Mark Stone missed his second consecutive game with a lower-body injury. Brandon Saad remained in the lineup in his stead, with Reilly Smith serving as a healthy scratch once again.
But the Golden Knights found themselves down a key player early in this game when Brayden McNabb was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for a late hit on Ryan Poehling, who was injured on the play and did not return to the game.
There was no initial call on the ice, but due to the timing of what otherwise would have been considered a clean check, as well as the resulting injury, the major was called. This set up five minutes of power-play time for the Ducks.
The Vegas penalty kill, which was coming off a game in which it surrendered two goals after being perfect through the first three, was now without its best defensive defenseman for a full five minutes. However, Vegas’ shorthanded units managed to minimize the damage, yielding just one goal in the process.
The penalty kill largely kept Anaheim to the perimeter for the first several minutes, but Sennecke eventually slammed home a rebound off a Cutter Gauthier shot. The goal came with 1:24 remaining on the penalty 12:36 into the opening frame.
The Golden Knights got a power play of their own two minutes later when Mitch Marner was slashed on a breakaway, and a standout individual effort by Dorofeyev allowed Vegas to even the score.
Dorofeyev lifted a stick to strip the puck — preventing a shorthanded odd-man rush the other way — and then skated into the slot before firing a laser past Lukas Dostal to make it a 1-1 game at 16:13.
The referees and linesmen had a difficult night but put the whistles away after the first.
It was an entertaining period of hockey, with electric chances at both ends, none more memorable than Gauthier’s stick play on Hertl when the puck was sitting in the crease in front of an unoccupied net.
The second period did not get off to a good start for Vegas, as a Jackson LaCombe shot hit Dorofeyev on the inside of the knee. Dorofeyev was down on the ice for a while but eventually skated to the bench, though he needed assistance getting down the tunnel. He later returned, though he appeared to be skating gingerly.
For the most part, the Ducks carried the play in the second period, outshooting the Golden Knights 17-6. There were remarkable defensive plays made throughout the game, including early in the second, one of which broke up a Vegas 2-on-1.
Leo Carlsson and William Karlsson almost completed highlight-reel goals near the end of the second, but both goalies stood tall to keep things tied after two, setting up a critical third.
This time, things got off to a good start for Vegas, as the Golden Knights scored the go-ahead goal less than five minutes in.
A point shot by Rasmus Andersson set up a rebound in front, and Hertl got enough of the puck to get it across the goal line. It was Hertl’s second goal in the last two games but his first 5-on-5 goal since Feb. 1 (against, naturally, Anaheim).
Both goalies were tested, including Hart on a Jeffrey Viel breakaway as well as Dostal, who made two sensational stops on the goal line.
But the Ducks found a way to answer late in the period on an extended shift in Vegas’ end, as the Golden Knights were unable to get a clear. An impressive display of puck movement by the Ducks featured a seam pass that set up Zellweger with time and space. Zellweger took his time and picked his spot, beating Hart with an excellent finish for his first career postseason goal to reset the score and force overtime.
The Golden Knights were hungry in the extra frame, and they were in control. The Golden Knights came out to win, and it took them four minutes and 10 seconds to do so.
It was a relentless shift by the top line, with Dorofeyev and Jack Eichel forcing a turnover after a series of rebound chances. Eichel came away with the puck and threw it on net, sending an airborne rebound to Dorofeyev on the backdoor. Dorofeyev knocked the puck out of mid-air and roofed it past Dostal for the game-winner.
This was a huge win for the Golden Knights, who were without their captain as well as Jeremy Lauzon, McNabb and Dorofeyev for parts of the game.
Despite all of that, and despite contending with a five-minute major, the Golden Knights gave up just two goals and found a way to win with another heroic overtime victory.
The penalty kill’s effort on the major was massive, as it prevented what could have been a two- or three-goal outburst for the Ducks. That doesn’t mean the Golden Knights couldn’t have come back, but a one-goal deficit is much more manageable.
It was an unfortunate play, and there was no intent to injure, but it was late, and it resulted in an injury. The process that led to the call was unnecessary, but it was, in fact, the right call.
That being said, the Golden Knights were already without Lauzon. In his third career playoff game, Dylan Coghlan stepped up, finishing the game with two shots, two blocks, one hit and a minus-one rating in 20:05. Ben Hutton, meanwhile, skated 19:03, directed three pucks on net and managed a plus-one rating.
The other three defensemen logged big minutes, with Shea Theodore leading the way with exactly 30 minutes of ice time. Noah Hanifin was second with 28:01, while Andersson was third at 26:37. Theodore led the team with four blocks, with Karlsson finishing second with three.
It would have been understandable if things had unraveled after the major. It happens in the playoffs, and the Golden Knights were missing other key players.
Instead, Vegas weathered the storm and got back to its game.
It wasn’t just the defensemen who rose to the occasion, either. The Golden Knights were extremely effective through the neutral zone all night, making quick passes out of the zone, moving the puck well in transition and not allowing Anaheim’s speed to be a significant factor. Plus, key forwards contributed in a crucial game.
Dorofeyev scored twice, preventing a grade-A chance with his outstanding stick lift and then erasing Anaheim’s early lead in the first period. He was in obvious pain and had to leave the game for a while after blocking a shot, but he came back and scored the game-winner to bring Vegas within one win of the Western Conference FInal.
Hertl’s goal should not be underestimated.
Things could have gone either way after he scored at the end of regulation in Game 4. The goal came at 6-on-5, and the puck came right to him. But he carried that momentum into Game 5 and came through in the clutch for Vegas with his third-period tally. The Golden Knights are often at their best when Hertl and Dorofeyev are trading goals, and Game 5 was a perfect example.
Sennecke (24:13) was the only forward on either team that played more than Eichel (23:04), who recorded two assists, including setting up the game-winner. Even Saad managed to pick up a helper.
It was arguably the most exciting game of the series, and the Golden Knights came out on top. They played with urgency at the start of overtime, holding Anaheim to zero shots and taking care of business at the other end of the ice.
Hart is now 6-0 all-time in playoff overtime games, though he didn’t have to face a shot in this one. He was solid all night, however, finishing with 34 saves on 36 shots for a .944 save percentage and saving 0.93 goals above expected, per Money Puck. Dostal also was solid, turning aside 29 of 32 shots for a .906 save percentage while saving 0.81 goals above expected.
As a result of another thrilling OT win, the Golden Knights now have a chance to wrap up the series in six games. It won’t be easy against a desperate Ducks team on home ice, especially since the fourth win is always the hardest to earn. But the Golden Knights found a way to overcome adversity in Game 5, and they’ll look to do the same Thursday in Game 6.
Statistics courtesy of Money Puck.
Photo via @GoldenKnights on X