Analysis: Pavel Dorofeyev saves Golden Knights again, comes of age in playoffs

The biggest criticism of Pavel Dorofeyev coming into this season was that he had never proven to be a difference-maker in the playoffs.

Scratch that knock off the record of the Golden Knights’ leading goal-scorer this season. The 25-year-old Russian has now propelled the Golden Knights to crucial Game 5 victories in back-to-back series to start the 2026 postseason.

He might have put together his biggest game ever Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena by scoring twice including an overtime game-winner to lead Vegas to a 3-2 win over Anaheim.   

The Golden Knights now lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 heading into Game 6 at 6:30 p.m. Thursday on the road at the Honda Center in Southern California.

“Massive game for Pav,” Golden Knights defenseman Rasmus Andersson said in the postgame news conference. “I think everyone who watches our games knows he’s an elite goal scorer and sometimes in the playoffs you have to eat a shot or take a hit to impact the game.”

The fateful final goal came only after Dorofeyev missed more than seven minutes of action in the second period after blocking a slapshot from Ducks’ sharpshooter Cutter Gauthier.  

Dorofeyev collapsed to the ice and eventually labored his way to the locker room after the puck collided with his right knee.  

But he didn’t look slowed once he returned. The game-winner required quick reflexes as Jack Eichel found a loose puck and fired a pass across the crease that Dorofeyev popped in behind Dostal.

It was certainly the most impactful goal of the night, but it probably wasn’t the prettiest. That title would likely go to Dorofeyev’s first score 16 minutes into the game.

Anaheim veteran Chris Kreider looked like he was about to kill off the majority of the remaining time on a Vegas power play with a clear, but Dorofeyev lifted his stick for a takeaway.

Then, before most both on the ice and in the stands aside from Eichel next to the crease realized it, the puck was in the back of the net. Dorofeyev roped a shot in the top corner over Dostal’s shoulder.

The performance was Dorofeyev’s second career multi-goal playoff game, joining a hat trick in a 5-4 Game 5 win over the Utah Mammoth exactly two weeks ago.

“The puck seems to follow him,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said of Dorofeyev. “He doesn’t say much. He just goes and plays. He makes a big play the other night...He’s a good two-way player.”

That praise is a testament to Dorofeyev’s growth, and a phrase few would have said a year or two ago – especially in the playoffs. Former coach Bruce Cassidy even benched Dorofeyev two years ago aside from seven minutes of ice time in a first-round playoff loss to the Dallas Stars.

Dorofeyev played more frequently in last year’s playoff run but managed only one goal and one assist in 70 minutes of ice time. He’s now tied with Brett Howden for a team-high seven goals this postseason.   

Howden finished the Golden Knights’ last overtime game, capping Dorofeyev’s hat trick against Utah, as the team is now 3-0 in the extra period in the playoffs.

“I think we’re a pretty comfortable group in there,” Andersson said. “There are a lot of players in there who have been through it and have won. They usually lead the charge. We’re an older team and it’s that feeling that no moment is too big. We’re very confident when we go to overtime.”

Vegas nearly avoided that fate Tuesday as it was in control with a 2-1 lead for most of the third period.

After 29 straight games encompassing 67 days, third-line center Tomas Hertl scored for the second straight contest to start the frame.

Defensive sniper Rasmus Andersson started the sequence by lacing a shot from near the glass beyond the faceoff circle. Winger Brandon Saad redirected the puck before Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal knocked it away, but Hertl slid in for a second-chance score.

Some had called for Hertl’s benching — especially since William Karlsson returned to the lineup — but Tortorella stuck with him and kept saying he only needed to find the net once to regain his confidence and get back on form.

That message now feels prophetic.

“Every game I was going through (the goal-scoring drought), I tried to refresh and not think about it,” Hertl said. “I tried so many things over the last two months. It was amost impossible not to think about it. Hopefully this is behind me and this never happens again because it was way too long.”

Hertl might have done some manifestation of his own in Game 5, as he vowed in an intermission radio-broadcast interview that the Golden Knights, “will get this win for (Brayden McNabb).”

The defensive captain McNabb played only 3:17 on Tuesday before getting a major game-misconduct penalty for a massive hit on Ducks center Ryan Poehling when he didn’t have the puck.

Poehling’s head hit the glass and he had to be helped off the ice. He didn’t return to the game.

Anaheim scored on the ensuing five-minute power play when rookie phenom Bennett Senecke tapped in a rebound off a shot from Cutter Gauthier to go up 1-0.

Tortorella refused to comment on McNabb’s controversial ejection, though mentioned frustration that Anaheim didn't receive as much of a penalty for a pair of hits taken by defenseman Dylan Coghlan.

Playing in his third playoff game this season after replacing Kaeden Korczak in the lineup, Coghlan took a high stick from winger Troy Terry in the first period and a late hit from Sennecke at the end of regulation.   

Tortorella said he was proud of how the Golden Knights maintained their composure on a night where the officiating breaks went against them.

Anaheim outpaced Vegas by four shots on net, but goaltender Carter Hart bounced back from a mediocre Game 4 outing with five more saves than Dostal.  

“We have all the faith in the world in Carter,” Andersson said. “If you look back at the Utah series, I think he was very solid and stole a couple games for us when we were not our best.”

But perhaps no one on the team has saved Vegas as much this year as Dorofeyev. It became a common occurrence during the regular season, but questions lingered on if he could translate the success to the playoffs.

Dorofeyev has since answered those concerns emphatically.