The Golden Knights wanted to get Dorofeyev going.
Over the previous two common seasons, he has scored 72 objectives, 16 greater than anybody else for Vegas. However he had just one purpose in eight Stanley Cup Playoff video games final yr, and he had none via the primary three video games of this collection.
Tortorella dropped Dorofeyev from the second line to the fourth line in Sport 3, a 4-2 loss at Delta Middle on Friday that put Vegas behind 2-1 within the collection. One motive was to get him to play a extra direct, gritty sport.
Then Tortorella put Dorofeyev on the primary line with ahead Ivan Barbashev and heart Jack Eichel to begin Sport 4 at Delta Middle on Monday.
“He’s a scorer,” Tortorella stated then. “He’s one of many high gamers right here. We have to attempt to assist him. It’s one other man that’s been surrounded by numerous good gamers. He understands what he’s to the staff. He understands what he must do to attempt to assist us discover our approach.”
Dorofeyev responded by scoring 1:12 into the primary interval of Sport 4, giving Vegas a 1-0 lead. He additionally appeared to provide the Golden Knights the win at 10:22 of time beyond regulation.
However the purpose was disallowed after video overview as a result of the play was offside, and the sport didn’t finish till defenseman Shea Theodore scored at 19:08 of OT, giving Vegas a 5-4 win and tying the collection 2-2.
And in between, Tortorella dropped Dorofeyev from the primary line and performed him for under two shifts within the third interval.
“I’m simply going to name them as I see them so far as who’s going to get that ice time,” Tortorella stated afterward.
Dorofeyev was again on the primary line for Sport 5, however not on the primary power-play unit to begin. After the primary unit failed to attain on two alternatives within the first interval, he obtained one other likelihood with the primary unit and capitalized with a wrist shot from the fitting circle, tying the rating 1-1 with 40.2 seconds left within the interval.
“He’s an elite shooter,” defenseman Brayden McNabb stated. “He finds spots and will get himself open, and he can bury the puck as we’ve seen all through his time right here.”