Vegas Golden Knights Find A Way Without Stone, McNabb To Defeat Anaheim, 3-2, In Overtime; VGK One Win From Conference Final
Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — One swing of the stick and just like that the Vegas Golden Knights buried the Anaheim Ducks in overtime Tuesday and are one win from the Western Conference Finals.
That swing came from Pavel Dorofeyev, who whacked the puck, sending the winning goal past Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal.
Final: Vegas 3 Anaheim 2, with VGK leading the series, three games to two. The Best-of-7 series shifts to SoCal Thursday for Game 6.
The Golden Knights found a way to eke out the OT win minus an injured Mark Stone and defenseman Brayden McNabb who drew a game misconduct penalty less than ten minutes into the game.
Responding to an LVSportsBiz.com question, Vegas coach John Tortorella said the Knights are a veteran team that leans on experience to squeeze out wins like tonight’s OT triumph.
“Even when we lose, I don’t have to police them,” Tortorella said.
The five-minute major against McNabb for interference was costly because 20-year-old Beckett Sennecke scored a power play goal for a Ducks 1-0 lead.
But Dorofeyev made a gorgeous stick lift move to take the puck from a Ducks player and fired a wrister into the net to tie the game at one on the PP.
Tomas Hertl shoveled in a goal from close in for a 2-1 lead in the second before Anaheim’s Olen Zellweger tied the game at two. It was Hertl’s second goal in two games after a lengthy scoring drought.
It’s been a close series. So, this second round series might be going the distance.
“I certainly would have liked the overtime to go longer,” Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville said.
If there is a seventh game, it will be 2 PM Saturday here at T-Mobile Arena.
The Knights/Ducks winner will battle the Colorado/Minnesota winner. The Avalanche lead the series, three games to one.
