The Vegas Golden Knights won their second straight game in extra time when they defeated the Utah Mammoth 5-4 in double overtime to take Game 5 Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Brett Howden scored the shorthanded game-winner 5:28 into double overtime to secure the victory and push Utah to the brink of elimination.
The Golden Knights, who won Game 4 by the same score, now lead the best-of-seven series 3-2.
It was a back-and-forth contest featuring multiple lead changes, but the Golden Knights forced overtime with a late equalizer thanks to Pavel Dorofeyev’s first career postseason hat trick. Ironically, Howden also scored the overtime game-winner exactly one year ago in Game 5 against Minnesota.
Carter Hart stopped 34 of 38 shots for an .895 save percentage, and the Vegas penalty kill finished a perfect 5-for-5.
First period
The Mammoth opened the scoring late in the first period when John Marino scored off the back boards at 17:11.
However, Vegas answered in the final minute, as Dorofeyev took advantage of a favorable bounce with 41 seconds remaining to even things up ahead of the first intermission.
Second period
For the second period in a row, the Mammoth were the first team on the board. It took 10:40, but Clayton Keller set up Lawson Crouse’s third of the series to put Utah ahead once more.
But the Golden Knights responded with two unanswered goals to grab their first lead of the night.
Shea Theodore made an exceptional play just inside the blue line before skating towards the net and drawing two defenders to him. He then dished the puck off to Dorofeyev, who beat Karel Vejmelka from in tight at 15:37 to knot things up at 2-2.
Theodore, who had a monster outing in Game 5, followed suit by scoring for the second straight game to put Vegas up 3-2 with 2:43 left on the clock.
Mark Stone recorded the lone assist on the play, moving him into first place in franchise history with 76 playoff points.
The two goals were scored in the span of just 1:40.
Hart made two of his biggest saves of the night later in the frame — including on a Nick Schmaltz breakaway and then a scramble in front — to preserve the lead.
The Golden Knights took the momentum into the second intermission with high hopes of finishing the game strong.
Third period
However, Vegas got off to a rough start, as Cole Smith took a double-minor for high-sticking just 11 seconds in. As it has all series long, though, the penalty kill came through with a clutch effort to shut down Utah’s man-advantage.
That being said, the Mammoth proceeded to convert two 2-on-1 opportunities in the third, with the first coming off the stick of Dylan Guenther at 5:54. A faceoff loss and a lost battle in the neutral zone led to the chance, and Utah made no mistake.
A costly turnover by Jack Eichel then sent the Mammoth on another 2-on-1, and Michael Carcone blasted home a one-timer off a saucer feed from Kailer Yamamoto to put Utah ahead once more.
Once again, the Golden Knights found themselves trailing. Once again, they found a way to reset the score.
With the goalie pulled, Vegas netted the game-saving equalizer when Dorofeyev completed the hat trick, cashing in on a rebound after Eichel threw the puck towards the net.
Overtime
Dorofeyev came close to netting his fourth of the evening, but Vejmelka robbed him with a glove save a few minutes into overtime. Vegas had a power play but was unable to generate much.
It was a choppy 20 minutes, but things opened up early in the second overtime, with both teams generating prime scoring chances after Reilly Smith was called for high-sticking in the offensive zone.
Hart came up with a massive save down low on the penalty kill, and then Eichel was stoned on the breakaway after a MacKenzie Weegar gaffe gifted him the puck in Utah’s end. Vejmelka turned aside Eichel’s five-hole bid, but the Golden Knights continued to push while shorthanded.
It was Mitch Marner who created the pressure on the forecheck, and Howden came away with the puck before firing a laser past Vejmelka for the shorthanded game-winner.
This was another wild contest, but the Golden Knights managed to come out on top.
The penalty kill was the star of the game. It has been fantastic all series, but it truly shined in Game 5, where it killed off all five of Utah’s opportunities. Most notably, the penalty kill came through in double overtime with a strong forecheck shift and the game-winning tally.
Vegas’ power play, on the other hand, struggled. The man-advantage accounted for one of Vegas’ five goals, but it squandered other opportunities, including one in overtime. Also, there were several power plays where Vegas lost momentum due to its inability to generate scoring chances. The power play was a strength all year for this team, but it has let the Golden Knights down thus far in this series.
That being said, it didn’t cost them the game.
Vegas had to overcome three one-goal deficits in this contest alone, which has been a common theme all year long for this squad. But the Golden Knights found ways to stay in the game and never trailed by more than one. Though they blew a one-goal lead in the third period, they were relatively solid at 5-on-5; the one exception was odd-man rushes.
That’s something the Golden Knights have largely limited in this series, but it was an issue in Game 5, as Utah scored on two 2-on-1’s in the third period. Part of that is Utah’s speed, which was a factor once again, but part of it is puck management.
But the Golden Knights would not have won this game without the excellent goal-scoring of Dorofeyev. It was just in Game 4 that John Tortorella benched Dorofeyev for most of the third period after he committed a rough turnover. Dorofeyev scored in overtime in Game 4, though the goal was called back due to Eichel being offside.
But the player who led Vegas in goals in the regular season with 37, 20 of which came on the power play (which ranked second in the NHL behind only Dallas’ Wyatt Johnston), stepped up once again. Theodore also had a fantastic game after netting the game-winner in Game 4. Vegas is getting contributions from throughout the lineup, but Dorofeyev’s scoring touch was sorely missed.
The same remains true of Tomas Hertl, who continues to be snakebitten. Hertl scored the game-winner in the only other double overtime game at T-Mobile Arena, though he did so as a member of the Sharks.
The Golden Knights weren’t perfect, but they were resilient, capitalized on chances and did what they had to do to win. As a result, they now find themselves one win away from advancing to the second round.
The fourth game is always the most difficult to win, and the Golden Knights will face a desperate Mammoth team on the brink of elimination. However, the Golden Knights have turned this series around with back-to-back wins in extra time.
Game 6 is set for Friday night in Salt Lake City.
Photo courtesy of @Golden Knights on X