Dorofeyev a ‘star’ in Vegas’ Game 5 win vs. Utah

LAS VEGAS -- Pavel Dorofeyev was demoted to the fourth line in Game 3. He was benched for part of Game 4.

In Game 5?

The forward had a hat trick, and his third goal tied the score 4-4 with the goalie pulled with 52.7 seconds left in the third period.

The Vegas Golden Knights went on to defeat the Utah Mammoth 5-4 when forward Brett Howden scored at 5:28 of the second overtime at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday, taking a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference First Round.

Vegas can eliminate Utah in Game 6 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday (10 p.m. ET; Utah16, SCRIPPS, ESPN, TVAS2, SN360, SN).

“Big credit to ‘Dory,’” coach John Tortorella said. “I’ve pushed him along here a little bit as far as his play. He’s handled himself really well and found a way to be a star tonight in a big game.”

The Golden Knights needed to get Dorofeyev going.

Over the past two regular seasons, he has scored 72 goals, 16 more than anyone else for Vegas. But he had only one goal in eight Stanley Cup Playoff games last year, and he had none through the first three games of this series.

Tortorella dropped Dorofeyev from the second line to the fourth line in Game 3, a 4-2 loss at Delta Center on Friday that put Vegas behind 2-1 in the series. One reason was to get him to play a more direct, gritty game.

Then Tortorella put Dorofeyev on the first line with forward Ivan Barbashev and center Jack Eichel to start Game 4 at Delta Center on Monday.

“He’s a scorer,” Tortorella said then. “He’s one of the top players here. We need to try to help him. It’s another guy that’s been surrounded by a lot of good players. He understands what he is to the team. He understands what he needs to do to try to help us find our way.”

Dorofeyev responded by scoring 1:12 into the first period of Game 4, giving Vegas a 1-0 lead. He also appeared to give the Golden Knights the win at 10:22 of overtime.

But the goal was disallowed after video review because the play was offside, and the game didn’t end until defenseman Shea Theodore scored at 19:08 of OT, giving Vegas a 5-4 win and tying the series 2-2.

And in between, Tortorella dropped Dorofeyev from the first line and played him for only two shifts in the third period.

“I’m just going to call them as I see them as far as who’s going to get that ice time,” Tortorella said afterward.

Dorofeyev was back on the first line for Game 5, but not on the first power-play unit to start. After the first unit failed to score on two opportunities in the first period, he got another chance with the first unit and capitalized with a wrist shot from the right circle, tying the score 1-1 with 40.2 seconds left in the period.

“He’s an elite shooter,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “He finds spots and gets himself open, and he can bury the puck as we’ve seen throughout his time here.”

Often you must go to the dirty areas to score in the playoffs, though.

Dorofeyev took a pass in front of the net and tied the game 2-2 at 15:37 of the second period. Then he went to the net again in the dying seconds of the third and banged in a rebound on one knee.

He dropped his stick, gave a double fist pump, let out a primal scream and got mobbed by his teammates. Hats rained down from the stands to celebrate the first playoff hat trick of his NHL career.

Just like that, Dorofeyev took over the Vegas lead for goals in the series with four.

“Yeah, I was so fired up,” he said. “Good things happen when you go to the blue paint. … It’s not the first one in a tight game, but especially in the playoff time, it feels so, so good.”

Dorofeyev had a chance to end it at 2:12 of the first overtime too, but his shot on the rush was stopped by goalie Karel Vejmelka.

Eichel said called it “a huge game by him.”

“He’s a huge part of our team, and it was awesome to see him find the back of the net a few times,” Eichel said. “It seems like he’s been playing pretty well these last few nights, and great to see him get rewarded.”

Tortorella said he didn’t talk to Dorofeyev much over the past few days.

“He knows what to expect, and players make big plays at key times,” Tortorella said. “He’s done that for us the past couple games. Should have had four, but perfect timing. It’s good timing. He was fighting it a little bit. He’s found his game. Hope it’ll continue.”

What’s it going to take to finish off the Mammoth?

“Just stay consistent,” Dorofeyev said. “Stick to the plan and keep the foot on the gas.”