The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in overtime, taking a 3-2 series lead. Pavel Dorofeyev scored the game-winning goal after returning from injury, showcasing a thrilling match filled with key plays and penalties.
The Golden Knights took Game 5 in OT to take a 3-2 series lead.
In a game that had more twists and turns than a Vegas Cirque du Soleil show, the Vegas Golden Knights (3-2) defeated the Anaheim Ducks (2-3) in overtime to win Game 5 and take a 3-2 series lead. This game had it all, power play goals, big hits, an ejection, big saves, and a legendary performance by Pavel Dorofeyev, returning to the ice to score the OT winner, his second of the game, after leaving with what seemed to be a serious injury.
Both teams lost a player for the remainder of the game just nine minutes into the fray, but for very different reasons. Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb checked and unsuspecting Ryan Poehling well away from the puck and knocked him out of the game. After the officials conducted a video review of the play, McNabb was assessed a five-minute major for interference and a game misconduct. Meanwhile, Poehling was clearly dazed and needed help leaving the ice. Anaheim, then went to work on a five-minute power play.
While the Golden Knights did an admirable job killing the first three-plus minutes of the major, Anaheim would eventually cash in on the extended man-advantage. Cutter Gauthier made a nifty play to stop the puck along the right wall by flipping his stick over and stopping the puck with the toe of his stick vertical to the ice. He then gathered the puck and wristed it on Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart. The shot bounded off Hart’s right pad and caromed into the crease. Unfortunately for Hart, (5), was standing uncontested near the left post and pounced on the rebound, shoveling it through the five-hole of the Golden Knights’ netminder. The goal came at 12:36 of the first and was Sennecke’s fourth-consecutive game in the series with a goal.
The Golden Knights won Game 5 against the Ducks with a final score of 3-2 in overtime.
Pavel Dorofeyev scored the overtime winner for the Golden Knights, marking his second goal of the game.
Brayden McNabb was ejected for interference after checking Ryan Poehling away from the puck, resulting in a five-minute major penalty.
The Ducks scored their goal when Beckett Sennecke capitalized on a rebound from a shot by Cutter Gauthier during a power play.
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Just a few minutes later, Mitch Marner broke in on a breakaway, but Anaheim netminder Lukas Dostal was able to poke-check the puck away. However, during the course of the breakaway, Marner was slashed by Pavel Mintyukov and the Golden Knights went to work on what would be their only power play of the game. When Pavel Dorofeyev hit the ice, he was like a one-man wrecking crew, lifting the stick of Chris Kreider and stealing the puck, spinning out and down the crease, then wristing a laser shot past the blocker of Dostal. It was Dorofeyev’s sixth goal of the post-season and second power-play goal in as many games.
Dorofeyev would be the center of attention again with exactly 11 minutes left in the second, but for a different reason. As Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe wound up to take a slap shot from the left point, Dorofeyev, positioned no more than six feet away, stood right in front of the missile off Lacombe’s stick and took it off the inside of his right knee. He laid on the ice for several minutes, had to be helped off the ice, and went immediately to the locker room. He would miss the rest of the second period, but thankfully for the Golden Knights, returned for the third.
While there was no scoring in the second period, it was not for a lack of chances, particularly for Anaheim. The Ducks outshot the Golden Knights 17-6 in the second stanza, including a span of 10-consecutive shots, but Hart was sharp and turned aside all 17 attempts. Neither team received a power play in the second or third period, as the game tighten and the after-whistle scrums became less frequent.
To begin the third period, the Golden Knights appeared to come out with more of a shooter’s mentality and cut into the 26-17 shot deficit. This was evidenced by the Golden Knights taking three shots in the first 4:48 of the period, the third of which would go in. It was good old-fashioned hard work that earned the Golden Knights the go-ahead goal. Rasmus Andersson wristed the puck on net from the right wall that hit Dostal and bounced just outside the crease. Seeing the bounding puck, Tomas Hertl (2) dropped to his knees, lunged in desperation to bat at the rebound, and managed to chip the puck past Dostal at 4:48 of the third to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead. For Hertl, it was his second-consecutive game with a goal after going 29-consecutive games without a tally.
With time in regulation winding down, the Ducks came out with their most dominate shift of the game. The Ducks had the Golden Knights hemmed in their own zone for an extended time and were whipping the puck around. Eventually, the Ducks completed a tic-tac-toe passing play that went from Gauthier at the point to Mason McTavish at the bottom of the right circle to Olen Zellweger (1) who initially flubbed the McTavish pass, but after double clutching, wristed a heavy shot off the crossbar and in to knot the game at two, which is where the score would remain at the end of regulation and the game would become the 16th game of these playoffs to extend beyond regulation
While there have been several games that have gone deep into overtime in these playoffs, this would not be one of them. Less than five minutes into the extra frame, and after two failed clearing attempts by Anaheim, the puck ended up on the stick of Jack Eichel at the bottom of the right circle. His centering pass attempt hit off the pads of Dostal and deflected to the stick of Dorofeyev near the bottom of the left circle. Dorofeyev (7) wasted no time trying to settle the bouncing puck, but rather one-time swatted at it and sent it bar-down over the right shoulder of Dostal for the game-winner. The goal came at 4:10 of overtime and was his second of the night and seventh of the post-season.
The Golden Knights are hoping history repeats itself in this round. In the first round the Golden Knights found themselves in a similar situation against the Utah Mammoth. With the series tied 2-2 heading home for Game 5. The Golden Knights won that game 5-4 in double overtime before closing out the series with a 5-1 victory at Utah in Game 6. This series’ Game 6 will take place in Anaheim on Thursday and the Golden Knights will be looking to finish the second round just as they closed out the first.
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