3 takeaways from Knights’ win: Dorofeyev steps up with Eichel out
The Golden Knights have depended on their veteran locker room to help them bounce back from losses.
Another benefit to having all that experience is that older players can push younger ones through slumps.
It sure seemed to work for Pavel Dorofeyev on Sunday night. The 24-year-old right wing, after going through one of the longest dry spell of his young NHL career, broke through with two power-play goals and an assist to help the Knights defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-1 at T-Mobile Arena.
Dorofeyev has a team-high 16 goals after his second three-point game of the season.
“He’s a great player,” center Tomas Hertl said. “He’s got a great shot, he can hold the puck and make plays.”
Dorofeyev exceeded expectations early this season with 12 goals his first 23 games.
The reserved Russian forward then discovered what a scoring drought looks like. He went 11 games without a goal from Nov. 29 to Dec. 23.
Some of his struggles can be explained by the fact that left wing Victor Olofsson returned from a sprained ankle Nov. 30 and took Dorofeyev’s spot on the top power-play unit. Five of Dorofeyev’s first 12 goals came on the man advantage.
He’s since gotten going again. Dorofeyev scored Dec. 27 against San Jose, then again Jan. 2 against Philadelphia. Sunday, with the Knights missing leading scorer Jack Eichel due to an illness, Dorofeyev stepped up when his team needed him to.
Coach Bruce Cassidy flipped Dorofeyev and Olofsson for a second-period power-play and Dorofeyev responded by beating Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson 5:21 into the frame. Cassidy called it a “gut instinct” to make the switch, and it worked.
Dorofeyev added his second power-play goal with 2:12 remaining in the third to put the Knights up 4-1.
“He’s played that position when Olofsson was out, so to me, they’re very interchangeable,” Cassidy said. “I just felt like, ‘Let’s give Pav a shot. Our power play has been good, not great.’ That’s all it was. Good for him.”
Stone finished with two assists. Hertl added a goal and an assist for the Knights (29-11-3), who were playing on consecutive nights after losing 2-1 to the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Goaltender Adin Hill made 15 saves.
Dorofeyev joined linemate Hertl with a team-high five shots on goal.
Time will tell if it’s a sign of things to come. The Knights got a tired Minnesota team (27-13-4) that was also playing on consecutive nights after beating the Sharks on Saturday.
Dorofeyev has a group of teammates that have been through what he’s gone through. Everyone has had slumps, Hertl said. Dorofeyev stayed with it and was rewarded.
“If you have the chances and the looks and you play hard, (the goals) will eventually come,” Hertl said. “He’s played hard.”
Here are three takeaways from the win:
1. Kolesar answers the bell
The Knights took a 2-1 lead 4:09 into the third period when right wing Keegan Kolesar scored his career-high 10th goal of the season .
It wasn’t just a much-needed goal to take the lead. It was the Knights’ first goal at five-on-five in 213:11.
Kolesar stood out in other ways as well. He fought Wild left wing Marcus Foligno for the second time in a month. The two scrapped Dec. 15 in Minnesota after Foligno hit left wing Ivan Barbashev, who missed the Knights’ next 10 games with an upper-body injury.
This time Foligno sought retribution after Kolesar checked rookie defenseman David Jiricek into the boards in the first period. Kolesar said it was inadvertent, claiming he tried to shield Jiricek after the 21-year-old toe-picked.
Foligno didn’t see it that way.
“He gave me (a fight), so it was only right to give one back,” Kolesar said.
2. Roy returns
Center Nicolas Roy returned Sunday after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury.
He centered the third line with Kolesar and left wing Brett Howden and picked up a secondary assist on Kolesar’s game-winning goal.
“It felt like a long time there watching the boys,” Roy said. “It’s nice to be back, for sure.”
3. Fleury acknowledged
Former Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was the Wild’s backup Sunday in what could be his final appearance at T-Mobile Arena.
Fleury, who played with the Knights the franchise’s first four seasons and won the Vezina Trophy in 2021, was recognized during a timeout in the first period. Fans gave him a standing ovation. They also chanted his name at times throughout the night.
Fleury, 40, has said this season, his 21st in the NHL, will be his last.
“It was only four years, but I felt like we went through a lot in those four years,” Fleury said before the game. “To start from scratch with the team, and go to the (2018 Stanley Cup Final) and things like that, I’ll always keep great memories from my time here.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
