‘No Moment Too Big’ for Golden Knights in Critical Game 5 Overtime Win

The Ducks broke the ice at 12:36 in the first on the ensuing five-minute power play. Carter Hart kicked out Cutter Gauthier’s wrister from the right circle, but he left the rebound in the blue paint. Hart lunged for the loose puck, but Beckett Sennecke got there first and banged it home.

The Golden Knights found the equalizer on a power play opportunity of their own at 16:13 in the first. Pavel Dorofeyev stripped the puck from Chris Kreider, danced into the slot, and ripped off a wrister that beat Lukáš Dostál top-shelf.

In the second period, the run-and-gun play from the first period was nowhere to be found. The teams combined for just 12 scoring chances, and for the first time this series, the Golden Knights and the Ducks entered the third period tied.

It didn’t stay that way for long.

The Golden Knights took their first lead of the night at 4:48 in the third. Brandon Saad got a piece of Rasmus Andersson’s shot from the point, but Lukáš Dostál made the save. Tomáš Hertl got to the loose puck and backhanded it home for his first five-on-five goal since February 1st.

“Every game, I tried not to think about a goal because, especially in the playoffs, winning games is all that matters,” said Hertl postgame. “I’ve tried so many different things over the last two months– it was almost impossible not to think about it. Hopefully this is behind me, and this stretch never happens again, because, honestly, it was way too long.”

After a period of sustained pressure, the Ducks finally broke through and found the equalizer at 16:55 in the third. Mason McTavish found Cutter Gauthier below the right circle, and Gauthier one-touched a cross-ice pass to Olen Zellweger at the left dot. Zellweger received the pass, picked his shot, and beat Carter Hart far-side.

It was all Golden Knights in overtime. As Rasmus Andersson said, they simply rise to the occasion. They outshot the Ducks 5-0 and generated three scoring chances while not allowing Anaheim a single one.

The Golden Knights struck just 4:10 into overtime. Jack Eichel pick-pocketed Troy Terry, protected the puck from Leo Carlsson, and circled lower into the zone. He danced around Olen Zellweger and threaded a pass to Pavel Dorofeyev at the goal line; Dorofeyev knocked the puck down and batted it home.

“To be honest with you, I can’t even tell you what happened there,” laughed Dorofeyev after the 3-2 overtime win. “I just saw a puck, whipped my stick on it, and thankfully got it in.”

The series shifts back to Anaheim on Thursday, where the Golden Knights will have an opportunity to close it out. Game 6 is scheduled for 6:50 p.m. PST.