John Tortorella places his faith in one struggling player in power play shake-up

Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev have struggled so far in the Stanley Cup playoffs this season. The two power play superstars have combined for just one power play assist during the playoffs, leaving Vegas Golden Knights fans worried about the team's offensive production. It doesn't help that the Golden Knights are down 2-1 in the series.

So, how did John Tortorella respond? Well, he performed a line shake-up on the unit. That involved bumping down Mitch Marner and... *Drumroll, please*

...Tomas Hertl. That means that Dorofeyev is staying on the first unit, while Shea Theodore and Ivan Barbashev will join the Russian winger on the top group.

The Golden Knights opted to keep Mark Stone on the top unit since he's the hotter hand. The Captain has two power play goals in the first round, which happen to be the only goals that Vegas has on the unit.

The move makes perfect sense, too. When you go 0-for-4 in Game 3 and you outshoot your opponent, your power play is expected to do more. Perhaps that will be the case in Game 4 on Monday, when the Golden Knights look to even things up. But the moves tell a greater story of how Tortorella has faith in Dorofeyev during the series.

Why Pavel Dorofeyev staying on the top unit matters for the Vegas Golden Knights

The Vegas Golden Knights aren't too worried about who is playing on the bumper of their power play units. Sure, Hertl has done serious damage this season with 13 power play goals. But there are plenty of players you could put in Hertl's position.

Obviously, there are names like Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev that you could put here. Both players have the size to make life easy for the Golden Knights up front, taking space away from a goaltender. But a power play sniper? That's what Vegas desperately needs.

Dorofeyev has been the other part of the power play equation, notching a franchise record 20 power play goals in a single season. That happened in 2025-26, which also saw a surge in the Russian winger's production. After all, he also led the Golden Knights in goals scored this season with 37.

What better way to do that than to break out in Game 4 and beyond? That's what Tortorella and company are hoping will happen. Looking at the 2023 Stanley Cup run, Jonathan Marchessault had three power play goals, so the objective is clear: make Dorofeyev that efficient winger for this season's Stanley Cup run.

The Golden Knights will go as far as Dorofeyev takes them on the power play unit

When Mark Stone is the only Golden Knights player that has a power play goal so far, that's not good enough to get the job done. That's especially true when players like Hertl (four goals and three assists in 21 career postseason games with the Golden Knights) haven't stepped up.

That's where Dorofeyev comes in. He must step in and do whatever it takes to dominate on the power play. That's his sweet spot, as proven by the Russian winger only scoring 17 even-strength goals this past season.

If Dorofeyev doesn't perform on the power play? Well, that leaves goals and leaves potential games in the open. The Golden Knights can't afford to have that happen, especially against an up-tempo team like the Mammoth.

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