Dorofeyev, Hertl regain their scoring touch in time

Hertl? He was in such a deep cold snap, he could’ve played the super villain Mr. Freeze on “Batman. But he scored Sunday in Game 4 to break a two-month drought and followed that up with a goal and an assist Tuesday in the critical Game 5.

“It hasn’t been easy for me,” said Hertl, who hadn’t scored since March 4 until his late goal in Game 4 with 1:04 remaining gave the Knights a chance though they would ultimately come up short, 4-3. “It’s been a hard two months for me. I was glad to get one (in Game 4) and now in this game. Hopefully it gets more.”
 
Give Tortorella credit. He stuck with both players when they were struggling and was rewarded as they’ve begun to deliver at the most opportune time.

“We had some talks about it and he tried to help me out,” Hertl said of how Tortorella had his back. “In the playoffs, it’s about winning games. You try to help the teams in other ways when you’re not scoring.

“Hopefully, it’s behind me and I don’t have to go through that again.”

Tortorella has tried different people with both Hertl and Dorofeyev in an attempt to get them both going and even had them together on the same line. Tuesday, he moved Colton Sissons up to Hertl’s line along with Brandon Saad and while the trio was on the ice for the tying goal by Anaheim’s Olen Zellweger, he thought the line performed well.

“I thought their line gave us some good minutes,” he said.

But with Dorofeyev and Hertl back contributing offensively, it gives Vegas more balance in its attack heading into Game 6. And remember, the Knights remain without Mark Stone, who has contributed three goals and seven points in the postseason before his injury in Game 3 vs. Anaheim. So getting contributions from Dorofeyev and Hertl becomes even more critical as the playoffs go on.

For the Ducks, who managed to finally contain Mitch Marner and Brett Howden, Vegas’ top two scorers in the playoffs, Joel Quenneville knows the Knights run deeper than just two guys.

“I thought they had some quality looks,” he said of the Knights’ 32 shots in Game 5. “It was a man’s game tonight.”

No doubt. When you block a shot, hobble off, then find a way to return and ultimately score the game-winner, that’s big boy stuff.

“I just blocked a shot,” Dorofeyev said. “It’s kind of a s— part of my job but it hurts more when I miss.”

He didn’t miss Tuesday. Painful as it was. But you score an OT winner, that helps the pain go away.