Golden Knights power play is humming in Western Conference Final

Vegas Golden Knights halfway Tomas Hertl, left, celebrates his extremity with goaltender Carter Hart during the 3rd play successful Game 3 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff bid against the Colorado Avalanche, Sunday, May 24, 2026, successful Las Vegas. Photo by: ASSOCIATED PRESS

When Mark Stone returned to the Golden Knights' lineup for Sunday night's Game 3 of the Western Conference Final against Colorado, that besides meant the instrumentality of Vegas' five-forward powerfulness play.

With Stone down low, Mitch Marner shifted to the apical successful the backmost role, sending defenseman Shea Theodore to the 2nd unit.

No substance which subordinate is astatine the top, the Golden Knights' powerfulness play is humming.

Stone's extremity with the antheral vantage 19 seconds into the 2nd play chopped the Avalanche's pb to 3-1 and sparked a two-period dominance for a 5-3 victory.

“I was fortunate capable to find Stoney going backdoor,” Marner said. “From that constituent on, we conscionable started rolling, the assurance started going a small bit, and everyone started feeling a small amended astir themselves. We’re a squad that doesn’t person immoderate discontinue successful them. We privation to marque definite each game, careless of the score, we’re warring and we’re trying to travel backmost and claw into it.”

And present the Golden Knights, who won the title 3 years ago, are 1 triumph from making their third Stanley Cup Final in their 9 seasons. They spell for the expanse connected Tuesday night.

The powerfulness play has been a large portion of that success. Vegas has scored connected it successful 7 of the past 8 games and is converting connected a 25% complaint for the playoffs, highest among the 4 remaining teams.

This isn't conscionable a tiny illustration size, either. The Golden Knights ranked sixth successful the regular play astatine 24.6%.

“We consciousness assured nary substance who is connected the ice,” helping Pavel Dorofeyev said. “We’re conscionable trying to bash our champion to assistance the squad to instrumentality vantage of the powerfulness play.”

No 1 took vantage much than Dorofeyev, who smashed the squad grounds with 20 power-play goals successful the regular season, topping the 14 that Tomas Hertl had conscionable a twelvemonth ago. Dorofeyev has 4 specified goals this postseason, tied with Stone and the Canadiens' Juraj Slafkovský, 2 different players entering Monday's play.

Golden Knights manager John Tortorella wouldn't sermon the intricacies of going with the highly antithetic five-forward look, but it's a enactment helium mostly inherited from erstwhile manager Bruce Cassidy, who employed that look often this season.

Both coaches astir apt saw what they had successful Marner, who besides filled the backmost relation erstwhile helium played successful Toronto erstwhile the Maple Leafs tried 5 forwards.

Other teams person tally the five-forward look arsenic well. The New York Rangers tried it this season, Los Angeles and Minnesota utilized it past year, and Florida and Montreal experimented with it successful 2022.

But it's hardly the go-to formation. The immense bulk of teams inactive similar 4 forwards with a defenseman patrolling the top. That subordinate is Theodore erstwhile the Golden Knights usage that scheme.

But present Theodore appears arsenic if helium volition beryllium astatine that spot connected the 2nd portion arsenic the Golden Knights look to beforehand to the sport's title series.

To get there, they apt volition request their powerfulness play to travel done again.

“I deliberation the 4th triumph is ever the hardest to get, whether it’s a archetypal round, 2nd circular oregon league final,” Theodore said. “We’re going to expect their best. For them, it’s triumph oregon spell home. We person to lucifer that strength from the start.”