LAS VEGAS — The Ducks are a loss away from summer after Pavel Dorofeyev scored on a rebound 4:10 into overtime, giving the Vegas Golden Knights a 3-2 victory in Game 5 of the teams’ second-round Stanley Cup playoff series Tuesday. Dororeyev, who also scored on a power play in the first period, batted the rebound of a Jack Eichel out of the air just inside the left post to end the longest game of the series.
With the win, Vegas leads the best-of-seven series three games to two heading into Game 6 on Thursday in Anaheim, where another loss would end the Ducks’ season.
The Ducks’ Beckett Sennecke and Dorofeyev exchanged power-play goals in the first period while the Golden Knights Tomas Hertl and Anaheim’s Olen Zellweger scored in the third, with Zellweger’s goal with 3:05 to play sending the game to overtime.
Anaheim struck first, with Sennecke opening the scoring midway through the first period. But the goal proved costly since the Ducks traded the score for forward Ryan Poehling, who took a vicious hit from defenseman Brayden McNabb along the boards nine minutes into the game. McNabb drew a five-minute interference penalty and a 10-minute game misconduct on the play, allowing Sennecke to bang in his second power-play goal in as many games 3 ½ minutes later.
It was Sennecke’s fifth score of the playoffs and the third power-play goal in five tries allowed by Vegas’ once-formidable penalty kill but the Ducks lost Poehling for the night.
Two minutes later, Duck goalie Lukas Dostal, who arguably played his best game of the series, made a big play to preserve the lead, reaching out to take the puck off the stick of Vegas winger Mitch Marner at the end of a breakaway. Pavel Mintyukov was whistled for slashing at the end of the play, however, giving Vegas a power play of its own and Dorofeyev quickly converted, scoring on a wrist shot from between the circles for his second man-advantage goal in as many games.
Eichel got an assist on the game-tying goal, his league-leading 13th of the playoffs.
Vegas would later go down a man as well, losing Dorofeyev for much of the second period after he was drilled by a Jackson LaCombe slap shot. The Russian was attended to by a trainer, then helped to the bench but he returned to the ice just before the second intermission and would up winning the game.
The Ducks peppered Vegas goalie Carter Hart with 17 shots in a scoreless second period that saw the Golden Knights go nearly eight minutes without putting the puck on goal.
Vegas was more active in the opening minutes of the third period and that paid off when Hertl corraled a loose puck just outside the crease and whacked it by Dostal to put the Golden Knights in front. The play started with defenseman Rasmus Andersson firing the puck on goal from the right-wing boards following a faceoff. Dostal made the stop but the rebound hit the skate of Ducks defenseman Ian Moore and bounced to Hertl, who nudged it into the net as he tumbled to the ice.
Zellweger, given a ton of space inside the left circle, evened the score by lining a wrist shot over Hart’s left shoulder and off the crossbar late in the period. Zellweger made his playoff debut in Game 4 and contributed an assist before scoring his first postseason goal to send Game 5 to overtime.
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