Nothing came easy for the Vegas Golden Knights in overtime during the regular season. They set a franchise record by going past regulation 26 times, and they lost 17 of those contests.
Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.
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Now, overtime is played at 5-on-5. After tonight’s 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks, the Golden Knights are a perfect 3-0 in overtime this postseason.
The Golden Knights hold a 3-2 edge as the series shifts back to Anaheim. Game 6 is scheduled for 6:52 p.m. PST at the Honda Center.
1. Man Down!
Brayden McNabb, the Golden Knights’ best stay-at-home defenseman, was ejected from the game just nine minutes into the first period for a hit on Ryan Poehling. He played only 3:17; just like that, the Golden Knights were down to only five defensemen for 55 minutes.
Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella refused to comment on the call postgame.
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“It’s just no sense talking about it… I just don’t get it,” said Tortorella following the 3-2 win. “High marks for the whole team tonight. I’m proud of the team tonight. Getting down, losing Nabber, one of our top D, losing him– I think he played three minutes– and still finding a way to get things done, to get a win, I’m really proud of the hockey club.
Poehling did not return to the contest.
2. Mr. Game 5
Can we start calling Pavel Dorofeyev ‘Mr. Game 5’ yet? His Game 5 hat trick in the First Round against the Utah Mammoth sent his team to overtime. Tonight, scored the Golden Knights’ first goal in addition to the overtime game-winner.
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But that’s not all. In the second period, Dorofeyev was hobbled after taking a heavy shot from Jackson LaCombe to the right knee. He was slow to get up, and after being attended to by the trainer, he headed down the tunnel.
Needless to say, he returned.
“Just a blocked shot,” said Dorofeyev following the win. “It’s a s— part of my job, but it hurts more when I miss it. I just got myself together and got back on the ice.”
3. Holding Out for a Hero
By now, everyone’s heard the intimidating, yet oddly specific, statistic: the Golden Knights have never lost a series after winning Game 5 to go up 3-2. And now, they’ve won another Game 5 and can end this series in Anaheim on Thursday. But in all those Game 6s of old, there was one consistent factor: Mark Stone.
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Stone has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury, and there’s a very good chance that he doesn’t play in Thursday’s Game 6. And that means that the Golden Knights will close this series out without their Captain.
Teams that go up 3-2 in a series have historically won 79.8% of the time. Even without Stone, I like the Golden Knights’ chances against a young and relatively inexperienced Ducks team. But the Captain is watching from the sidelines, and someone else will have to step up and answer the call when the lights are brightest.
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