The Vegas Golden Knights will begin their second-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers without a key offensive contributor.
Forward Pavel Dorofeyev has been ruled out for Game 1, Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed to reporters.
The 24-year-old sustained an undisclosed injury late in the team`s 3-2 overtime victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game 5 of their first-round series.
Dorofeyev had a stellar breakout season, leading the Golden Knights in goals with 35 and adding 17 assists for a total of 52 points.
Left winger Victor Olofsson, who scored 15 goals during the regular season, is expected to step into the lineup to replace Dorofeyev. Olofsson will also take Dorofeyev`s spot on the power play.
Commenting on the roster change, Coach Cassidy stated, “It`s not like we`re plugging in a guy that`s never scored, so hopefully he picks up some of what Pav did in terms of the play. We`ve got lots of guys in the lineup that can do it. We`ll miss him, obviously, but we weren`t overly reliant on one player anyway.”
In the game where he suffered the injury, Dorofeyev was playing on the top line alongside Jack Eichel and William Karlsson. Mark Stone moved to fill Dorofeyev`s spot on that line. According to Natural Stat Trick, the lines including Stone and Eichel collectively outshot the Wild 8-3 at 5-on-5 after the adjustment.
Regarding the decision to place Stone on the top line, Cassidy noted, “He [Stone] has played with Jack a lot. We wanted to see Stoney with Karly, so there you go. It took us a while. It`s just the way things worked out a little bit… I think it was our intention Stoney and Jack would be back together at some point.”
Game 1 of the Golden Knights-Oilers series is scheduled for Tuesday.
Tristan Blackwood