Power play strikes late to help Golden Knights best Blackhawks 5-3

The Vegas Golden Knights scored three goals in the third period in a 5-3 come-from-behind win against the Chicago Blackhawks Friday night at United Center.

Pavel Dorofeyev scored on the power play with 3:10 remaining in the third period to lift the Golden Knights to victory. Victor Olofsson scored twice for the Golden Knights, while Ryan Donato scored a hat trick for Chicago.

Vegas (44-20-8) has won five games in a row and now holds a nine-point lead over the Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific Division standings. Los Angeles trails by seven with a game in hand.

Donato’s first of the game came 16:15 into the first and was the difference in a relatively evenly-matched opening period (though Chicago did have a 4-1 edge in high-danger chances). Adin Hill made the save on Donato’s initial shot on the breakaway but was unable to deny the follow-up.

The Blackhawks carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, but the second period featured multiple lead changes and saw both teams score a pair of quick-strike goals.

Vegas tied the game at 1-1 when Mark Stone proved that it’s never a bad play to get the puck to the net, as his harmless-looking shot beat Spencer Knight five-hole at 6:41.

Olofsson gave Vegas its first lead of the night when he scored 53 seconds later, completing a give-and-go with William Karlsson. Olofsson had hit the post earlier in the game but made no mistake before burying his 12th of the year.

But the second frame was a tale of two periods.

After the Golden Knights scored twice and held a 9-2 lead in shots in the first half of the period, the Blackhawks followed up with two goals of their own and a 5-0 run in shots to end the frame.

Donato struck twice more for his first career hat trick to give Chicago the 3-2 lead through 40 minutes.

His second of the game came on an excellent passing play on a delayed penalty.

Just 15 seconds later, Donato took a page out of Vegas’ recent playbook and completed the hat trick, this time on a backdoor one-timer.

But the Golden Knights saved their best period for last and took control of the game in the final frame.

Olofsson’s stellar game continued when he knotted things up at 3-3 just 2:06 into the third. It was another transition goal for the 29-year-old, who beat Knight on a spectacular wrist shot off a chip pass from Reilly Smith.

Stone drew a hooking call with just over four minutes left in the third. As they have done so many times this season, the Golden Knights capitalized on the man-advantage to turn the tide.

It was Dorofeyev who scored on the one-timer for his 31st goal of the year, pulling him even with Tomas Hertl for the team lead in goals.

Hill was forced to come up with a massive pad save on Ilya Mikheyev to prevent Chicago from resetting the score before Brett Howden sealed the win with an empty-net goal for the 5-3 final.

It was far from a perfect effort by the Golden Knights, who were not sharp for much of the night. Vegas had defensive lapses, gave up multiple breakaways, got burned by stretch passes through the neutral zone and gave up way too many grade-A opportunities.

For whatever reason, the Golden Knights have struggled mightily against Chicago this season, and giving up high-danger chances galore has been a theme throughout all three meetings. Tonight was no exception. But while there was a noticeable dropoff in the Golden Knights’ execution compared to their performances against teams like Tampa Bay and Minnesota, the Golden Knights eventually found their game in the third period.

They started winning puck battles, they put away their chances when they needed to, and Hill came up with timely stops. He finished the night with 18 saves on 21 shots for an .857 save percentage, but he had little chance on the goals he gave up. When Vegas needed him, he delivered.

Every point is imperative down the stretch, and with Edmonton and Los Angeles both losing, the Golden Knights needed these two points against the worst team in the league. Good teams find ways to win, and the Golden Knights did just that.

On top of the result, there were a few positive takeaways.

For one thing, the top line came through once again. The trio of Stone, Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev combined for a full-line goal in the second period and led 11-5 in scoring chances in 12:22.

But more importantly, Olofsson scored twice after not lighting the lamp for 20 games. He looked dangerous all night. If he can rediscover his scoring touch, that would give the Golden Knights some much-needed depth scoring, particularly with the injury to Tomas Hertl.

But it wasn’t just Olofsson. The third line, as a whole, had a very strong game. Though Bruce Cassidy shuffled the lines in the third period, the line of Olofsson, Karlsson and Smith played very well throughout the contest, scoring two goals and leading 14-8 in Corsi, 6-4 in shots and 7-2 in scoring chances with an 80.48 percent expected goal share in 10:18. The third line has been a source of inconsistency for the Golden Knights this season, both due to injury and chemistry. If this unit can establish some chemistry and start producing, that will be a significant boost for Vegas moving forward.

Karlsson now has six points in five games since returning to the lineup after recording three helpers in Chicago, including the secondary assist on the game-winning goal.

The Golden Knights will wrap up this three-game road trip tomorrow with an afternoon tilt (3:30 p.m. PT) against Jonathan Marchessault and the Nashville Predators.