In a game that had more ups and downs 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 everything, power play goals, big hits, an ejection, big saves, and a great performance from Pavel Dorofeyev, returning to the ice to score the OT winner, his second of the game, after leaving with a serious injury.
Both teams only lost a player in the nine-minute battle for the remainder of the game, but for very different reasons. Golden Knights defenseman Braden McNabb blocked Ryan Poehling well away from the puck and fouled him, fouling him from the game. After officials conducted a video review of the game, McNabb was assessed a five-minute penalty for interference and a game misconduct. Poehling, meanwhile, 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 of eliminating the first three-plus minutes of the major, Anaheim ultimately capitalized on the extended man-advantage. Cutter Gauthier made a good play to stop the puck on the right wall by flipping his stick and keeping the toe of his stick perpendicular to the ice. He then collected the puck and flipped it over Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart. The shot hit Hart's right pad and went into the crease. Unfortunately for Hart, Beckett Seneca (5), stood unopposed 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 Seneca's fourth consecutive game with a goal in the series.
A few minutes later, Mitch Marner drove in on a breakaway, but Anaheim netminder Lucas Dostal was able to poke-check the puck. However, on a breakaway, Marner was intercepted by Pavel Mintyukov and the Golden Knights went on what would be their only power play of the game. When Pavel Dorofeyev hit the ice, he was like a one-man demolition team, picking up Chris Kreider's stick and stealing the puck, weaving out and down the crease, then firing a laser shot over Dostal's blocker. It was Dorofeyev's sixth goal of the postseason and second power-play goal in as many games.
With exactly 11 minutes left in the second, Dorofeyev would again be the center of attention, but for a different reason. As Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe wound up taking a slap shot from the left point, Dorofeyev, who was no more than six feet away, stood right in front of the missile from LaCombe's stick and took it off the inside of his right knee. He remained lying on the ice for several minutes, had to be helped off the ice and immediately went to the locker room. He would miss the rest of the second period, but returned for the third period, thanks to the Golden Knights.
While there was no scoring in the second period, it was not due to a lack of opportunities, especially for Anaheim. The Ducks outshot the Golden Knights 17–6 in the second period, including 10 consecutive shots, but Hart was sharp and missed all 17 attempts. Neither team got a power play in the second or third period, as the game tightened up and fights subsided after the whistle.
To start the third period, the Golden Knights came out with a shooter's mentality and overcame a 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 went in. It was good old-fashioned hard work that got the Golden Knights the go-ahead goal. Rasmus Andersson hit a puck on net from the right wall that bounced off Dostal and just outside the crease. Upon seeing the bounding puck, Tomas Hertl (2) dropped to his knees, pounced in desperation to bat at the rebound, and managed to beat Dostal at 4:48 of the third minute 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 point.
With time running out in regulation, the Ducks came out with their most effective innings of the game. The Ducks kept the Golden Knights in their own zone for long periods of time and were shooting the puck around. Finally, the Ducks completed a tic-tac-toe passing play that passed from Gauthier to Mason McTavish in the bottom of the right circle and to Olen Zellweger (1), who initially flubbed the McTavish pass, but after double clutching, hit a heavy shot off the crossbar and tied the game at two, allowing the score to remain tied at the end of regulation and making the game the 16th game of these playoffs beyond that. Will increase. regulation
Although there have been many games that have gone into overtime in these playoffs, this will not be one of them. Less than five minutes into the extra frame, and after two unsuccessful clearing attempts by Anaheim, the puck ended up on Jack Eichel's stick in the bottom of the right circle. His centering pass attempt hit Dostal's pads and deflected onto Dorofeyev's stick in the bottom of the left circle. Dorofeyev (7) wasted no time trying to settle the bouncing puck, instead pouncing on it and sending it bar-and-down over Dostal's right shoulder for the game-winner. The goal came at 4:10 of overtime and was his second goal of the night and seventh of the postseason.
The Golden Knights are hoping history repeats itself this season. The Golden Knights found themselves in a similar situation against the Utah Mammoth in the first round. Heading home for Game 5 with the series tied at 2-2. The Golden Knights won that game 5–4 in double overtime before ending the series with a 5–1 win at Utah in Game 6. Game 6 of this series takes place on Thursday in Anaheim and the Golden Knights will look to finish the second round like they did the first round.
notes
- Both the Golden Knights and Ducks were once again without their captains. Ducks captain Radko Gudas missed his eighth consecutive game with a lower body injury and Mark Stone also missed his second consecutive game with a lower body injury.
- When the best-of-seven series is tied 2–2, the winner of Game 5 wins it 79.6 percent of the time (242–62). If the home team wins Game 5, it advances 80.7 percent of the time (151–36).
figures
- Shots on goal gave Anaheim a 36–32 win.
- Vegas had the edge in the faceoff circle, 53.1% to 46.9%.
- Vegas was 1-1 on the power play, while Anaheim was 1-2.
- Vegas had a slight edge in hits, 29-26.
- Vegas stopped 18 shots, while Anaheim stopped eight.
- Vegas had four more giveaways than Anaheim, 17–13, while takeaways favored Anaheim, 8–5.
