Golden Knights get murky injury update on Pavel Dorofeyev for Game 6 vs. Wild

The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Minnesota Wild in overtime again on Tuesday night. With the two straight sudden-death victories, Vegas has Minnesota on the brink. They are headed back to St Paul looking to end the series, but may do it without a key forward. Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t have an update on Pavel Dorofeyev and the injury that took him out of Game 5.

“We’ll see how he is for tomorrow,” Cassidy said on Wednesday. “We didn’t skate today. But we’ll have a better idea tomorrow.”

Dorofeyev left the game with just over four minutes to go in the third period of Tuesday’s game. He had played 17:32 in the game and taken five shots, but not registered a point. The Golden Knights played with 11 forwards in the lengthy extra period, getting the goal from Brett Howden, who played only 10:46 in the game.

Dorofeyev has been one of the breakout stars for the Golden Knights this season. After scoring 13 goals in 45 games last year, he netted 35 in an 82-game season this year. After losing Jonathan Marchessault in free agency, Dorofeyev’s ascension has been important.

The Golden Knights were pushed to the limit in Game 4, needing overtime on the road to win the game. Had they lost that one, this would be a very different series. But with a one-game cushion, the Golden Knights can afford to be careful with Dorofeyev. In this series, the Russian has been quiet, scoring just one goal with one assist in the five games.

The Golden Knights have been leaning on their depth to get passed the Wild. Howden and Tomas Hertl are the only players with multiple goals, each has three. Jack Eichel has no goals yet, and Mark Stone has just one.