LAS VEGAS — For a while, Vegas Golden Knights fans were wondering what had happened to Pavel Dorofeyev and Tomas Hertl. They weren’t scoring goals. What was wrong?
But hockey is a weird game sometimes. You can do things the right way and not get rewarded. But then fortunes are reversed and you suddenly have regained your touch and you become a hero.
That was Dorofeyev Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena. He scored a power play goal in the first period, blocked a shot in the second period, hobbling off the ice to the locker room, then returned to the game and ultimately won it 4:10 into overtime as the Knights defeated the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead.
Game 6 is Thursday at the Honda Center where Vegas can wrap up the series and earn a spot in the Western Conference Finals.
“The puck seems to find him,” Knights coach John Tortorella said of Dorofeyev. “He’s a good two-way player.”
Defenseman Rasmus Andersson said of Dorofeyev’s willingness to get in front of a shot and help he and the other defensemen: “Sometimes you have to block a shot. For him to come back and score the game-winner in overtime, it’s big.”
He was certainly in the right place at the right time on both goals, particularly the game-winner. The first-period goal was the result of Dorofeyev chasing down a puck in the Anaheim zone, winning it away from the defense, then beating Lukas Dostal with a wrist shot that flew past his shoulder and in.
His OT winner was the result lodging himself in front and knocking home the rebound of Jack Eichel’s shot attempt before the Ducks could clear the puck. Dorofeyev, who led the Knights during the regular season with 37 goals, now has seven goals in the playoffs after starting so slow against Utah in the opening round he wasn’t sure if he would ever score again.
“That’s what I got to do. Just my job,” Dorofeyev said.
That he was blocking shots in the absence of Brayden McNabb, who was out following a first-period game misconduct after an interference major which KO’d Ryan Poehling tells you how much of a two-way player Dorofeyev has become. It’s not just putting the puck in the net that makes him valuable to the Knights.
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.
