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The Vegas Golden Knights have an opportunity to knock out the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night and become the first team in the Western Conference to move onto Round 2 — but they'll have to do it without their best regular-season goal scorer.
Pavel Dorofeyev won't dress for Game 6, head coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed to The Athletic's Jesse Granger.
“Bruce Cassidy ruled Pavel Dorofeyev out tonight, and said he’s considered day to day beyond that,” the hockey insider reported.
Dorofeyev left Tuesday night's 3-2 overtime Game 5 victory in the third period and didn't return. He's managed a goal and an assist through five games in the series.
It's a tough loss for the Knights; the Russian enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2024-25, managing a career-high 35 goals and 52 points in the regular-season. He had been skating on the top line with Jack Eichel, and was a fixture on the top powerplay unit alongside Eichel, Mark Stone, Tomas Hertl and Shea Theodore.
“If he can't go, we'll think about who goes in the lineup and go from there,” Cassidy said on Wednesday. “I'm pretty comfortable with however it works out.”
In Dorofeyev's absence, Stone will move onto the top line with Eichel, while Victor Olofsson will enter the lineup after being scratched for the previous two games. He'll skate on the second line at 5-on-5 — with Hertl and Brandon Saad — and take Dorofeyev's spot on the top man advantage unit.
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Golden Knights looking to book ticket to Round 2
Despite being without one of their top offensive players, the Golden Knights are in a pretty good spot. They were one overtime goal away from being down 3-1 in the series, but after back-to-back OT victories, they've instead opened up a 3-2 lead.
Brett Howden was the hero at T-Mobile Arena in Game 5, scoring just over four minutes into the extra frame to steal back home-ice advantage. It was Ivan Barbashev who scored in Game 4 in Minnesota to tie the series in the fourth period.
After losing in a tight Game 7 to the Dallas Stars in the first round last year, Vegas is looking to make another deep run. The franchise won its inaugural championship in 2023, dominating the Western Conference before beating the Florida Panthers in five games in the Stanley Cup Final.
It's the second championship appearance the Knights have had after making a miracle run to the Finals in their inaugural season back in 2017-18. After finishing first place in the Pacific Division in 2024-25, they were considered heavy favorites over the Wild in Round 1.
But led by Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek, Minnesota has managed to keep the series close. The last time these two clubs played, Vegas beat Minnesota in seven games in Round 1 back in 2020-21.
Although three Eastern Conference first round series are complete, no West team has moved on. The Stars and Edmonton Oilers will have a chance to close out their respective opponents later on Thursday night, but the Knights and Wild will play a rare early game, with puck set to drop just past 7:30 p.m. ET from Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
