NHL NEWS

PAVEL DOROFEYEV’S OT GOAL GIVES KNIGHTS 3-2 SERIES LEAD OVER DUCKS

Pavel Dorofeyev scored two goals, including the game-winner 4:10 into overtime, as the Vegas Golden Knights took a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference second-round series against the Anaheim Ducks with a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

Dorofeyev, stationed alone on the backdoor by the left post, roofed a crossing pass from Jack Eichel for his first career playoff overtime winner.

“To be honest with you, I can’t tell you what happened there,” Dorofeyev said. “I just saw the puck, got my stick on it and thankfully it got in the net.

“To score first OT goal in the playoffs, it’s awesome. … It feels special.”

Tomas Hertl had a goal and an assist, Eichel had two assists and Carter Hart finished with 34 saves for Vegas, which can advance to the Western Conference finals for the fourth time in the team’s nine-year history with a victory in game 6 on Thursday in Anaheim.

Beckett Sennecke extended his goal streak to four games and Olen Zellweger also scored for Anaheim. Cutter Gauthier and Mason McTavish each added two assists and Lukas Dostal made 29 saves for the Ducks.

“It’s definitely a big letdown,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Tomorrow you wake up and it’s a new day. Certainly, there will be games in the playoffs that at the end of the game, your stomach feels like it’s rotten, and at the same time, it can happen just the opposite.”

Anaheim took a 1-0 lead at the 12:36 mark of the first period on Sennecke’s fifth goal of the playoffs, a rebound of a Gauthier shot from near the right boards.

The score came during a power play after Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb was called for a five-minute major and a game misconduct for interference on a hard late check of Ryan Poehling along the boards. Poehling, who has dealt with concussions in the past, had to be helped off the ice with an upper-body injury after the back of his head whiplashed into the glass.

A couple minutes after Dostal poke-checked the puck away from Mitch Marner on a breakaway near the end of the period, the Golden Knights tied it on a power-play goal by Dorofeyev.

Ducks forward Chris Kreider was trying to exit the Vegas offensive zone along the left boards when Dorofeyev stole the puck from behind, skated to the top of the slot and roofed a wrist shot into the top-left corner past Dostal’s blocker side.

Hertl, who snapped a 29-game goal drought with a score near the end of Sunday’s 4-3 loss, put the Golden Knights ahead, 2-1, early in the third period when he backhanded a rebound through Dostal’s pads.

Zellweger tied it with 3:05 remaining in regulation with a wrist shot from the middle of the left circle past Hart’s glove side for his first career playoff goal.

Sennecke’s five goals this postseason tie the Ducks’ rookie postseason record set by Bobby Ryan in 2009.

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ZACH BENSON’S 3RD-PERIOD GOAL HELPS SABRES LEVEL SERIES VS. CANADIENS

Zach Benson scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period of a 3-2 win for the visiting Buffalo Sabres against the Montreal Canadiens in game 4 of their Eastern Conference second-round series on Tuesday.

Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist and Josh Doan had two assists for the Sabres, who tied the series 2-2. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves.

Alex Newhook and Cole Caufield scored for the Canadiens, who got 19 saves from Jakub Dobes.

Game 5 is Thursday in Buffalo.

Benson, celebrating his 21st birthday, put Buffalo ahead 3-2 on the power play at 4:41 of the third period. Doan put a pass into the fringe of the crease for Benson, who shook off his defender to gather the puck and lift past Dobes’ glove.

Games

“We’ve talked about our power play being good in key moments,” Benson said. “That’s what we did. We went out there, we executed. Heck of a slip pass by Doaner and my job was pretty easy from there, just putting it in the net.”

Mattias Samuelsson gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 6:32 of the first period. Josh Norris dished a cross-ice pass to a crashing Samuelsson, who one-timed a snap shot inside the right post.

“I thought we got off to a tremendous start to the game,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “We talked about getting off to a fast start and trying to quiet the building. The first eight minutes I thought might’ve been some of the best hockey we’ve played.”

The Sabres appeared to double their lead midway through the frame when Jack Quinn put a rebound into Dobes’ glove, which was in the net. The referees ruled it a goal after reviewing the play to determine if the puck completely crossed the goal line.

But then Montreal challenged for goaltender interference, and the goal was overturned, deeming Sabres forward Konsta Helenius impaired Dobes’ ability to play his position.

Newhook tied it 1-1 at 10:08 of the opening period. Ivan Demidov got the puck along the wall and sent it to Jake Evans, who was alone in front. Evans clanked it off the crossbar, then recovered the puck behind the net before feeding it to Newhook in front.

Caufield put the Canadiens ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal with 13 seconds left in the first. He received the puck along the goal line and took it toward Luukkonen before sliding it under the goalie’s left pad.

“Special teams played a huge part,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “It’s hard to believe that we only got one goal on the power play because I felt like we had a lot of chances. You’ve got to tip your cap to the goalie (Luukkonen); he played a good game.”

Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki added: “We battled our way back to get the lead in the first, and then I thought the second period we controlled it pretty well. We just couldn’t find that next goal.”

Thompson pulled Buffalo even seven minutes into the second period. He dumped the puck into the left corner from center ice. It hit the top of the boards before bouncing towards the net, going off the side of Dobes’ right pad and into the net to make it 2-2 in stunning fashion.

“Off the stanchion? No, not like that, but I’ll take it,” Thompson said of scoring a goal in that way.

“We didn’t get in the first couple break-ins on the power play, and (when) you do that, sometimes you want to just keep it simple, rim it and try to get on the forecheck,” he said. “I rimmed it and obviously saw it hit the glass and saw, kind of just scanning around looking for it. And a few guys put their hands up. So, it’s a nice feeling when you see that.”

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