Golden Knights goal scorers benched late in Game 4 win

SALT LAKE CITY — John Tortorella rolled with three lines as Game 4 on Monday reached its critical stages.

Normally that would be a time for a coach to go away from the fourth line. Not from two of the Vegas Golden Knights’ top goal scorers.

But Pavel Dorofeyev and Tomas Hertl hardly saw action in the clutch stages of the Knights’ 5-4 overtime win against the Utah Mammoth.

The two longtime linemates — separated later in the season — had eight shifts each in the third period and overtime. Dorofeyev played 19 shifts and skated for 18 minutes, 7 seconds.

Hertl, meanwhile, played just 18 shifts and was held to 11 minutes, 39 seconds of ice time.

Dorofeyev did not play the final 13:16 of regulation. Hertl went five minutes between shifts in the third period.

Dorofeyev has noticeably struggled since Tortorella took over the team on March 29. He hasn’t looked as comfortable as he did earlier in the year when he would have the puck.

His decision making has also been questionable as of late. His turnover led to Utah’s first goal. Rather than carry it past the blue line or dump it in, Dorofeyev passed it into traffic and gave Utah a chance.

Twenty-nine seconds later, Hertl’s line allowed Ian Cole’s goal that cut the once-insurmountable three-goal lead into 3-2 in a blink.

Dorofeyev started the game on the top line with Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev, and even scored the game’s first goal 1:12 into a must-win situation.

But his first goal of the playoffs was more about what Eichel and Barbashev did to set him up, rather than creating an individual play.

Dorofeyev almost made up for it in overtime, but his potential winning goal was called back after Eichel was offside on the zone entry.

Tortorella felt the lines played well, even in certain changes he made. When asked what went into that decision to shorten up the forwards, he didn’t want to go into specifics on who played well and who didn’t.

“I thought the lines were good,” Tortorella said. “Changed it up in certain situations, but I thought everybody contributed. I thought we played as a team.”

Hertl’s problems have stemmed long before Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy as coach.

The center hasn’t scored a goal since March 4. He had two chances in Game 2 to get on the board, but couldn’t convert.

Tortorella has liked the way Hertl’s line has played at 5-on-5. But individually, it’s becoming concerning. Hertl had one shot on goal — and one shot attempt in nine minutes of 5-on-5 play, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Hertl, who had 13 power play goals in the regular season, was bumped off the top unit in favor of Barbashev.

“Everybody looks at stuff because everybody expect it from me to score, and they’re just looking at the score sheet,” Hertl said Thursday. “It’s tough, but I just have to find a way. Even if I don’t score, I have to help another way.”

Up next

Who: Mammoth at Golden Knights

What: Game 5, first round (series tied 2-2)

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Where: T-Mobile Arena

TV: TNT, KMCC-34

Radio: KFLG 94.7 FM/KKGK 1340 AM

Line: Knights -160; total 6