Vegas Downs Chicago to Advance

The Vegas Golden Knights look to clinch the series while the Chicago Blackhawks look to make the series 3-2.

Here are your lines and defencive pairings in tonight’s match-up

Chicago Blackhawks

Dominik Kubalik — Jonathan Toews — John Quenneville

Drake Caggiula — Kirby Dach — Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Brandon Saad

Matthew Highmore — David Kampf — Ryan Carpenter

Duncan Keith — Adam Boqvist

Calvin de Haan — Connor Murphy

Olli Maatta — Slater Koekkoek

Corey Crawford

Malcolm Subban

Unfit to Play:   None

Scratched:

Collin Delia, MacKenzie Entwistle, Brandon Hagel, Alex Nylander, Dylan Sikura, Philipp Kurashev, Nicolas Beaudin, Lucas Carlsson, Alec Regula, Nick Seeler, Kevin Lankinen

Vegas Golden Knights:

Max Pacioretty — William Karlsson — Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault — Paul Stastny — Reilly Smith

Nick Cousins — Nicolas Roy — Alex Tuch

William Carrier — Chandler Stephenson — Ryan Reaves

Brayden McNabb — Nate Schmidt

Alec Martinez — Shea Theodore

Nick Holden — Zach Whitecloud

Robin Lehner

Marc-Andre Fleury

Unfit to Play:   Tomas Nosek

Scratched:

Patrick Brown, Dylan Coghlan, Oscar Dansk, Reid Duke, Deryk Engelland, Nicolas Hague, Keegan Kolesar, Peyton Krebs, Jon Merrill, Gage Quinney

1st Period Analysis and Summary

Line-ups have been altered for Game 5 in the contest.  Chicago is able to get a couple of shots off early in the contest and Vegas is playing a bit sloppy.

Chicago opens up the scoring with Jonathan Toews, his fifth goal in the postseason, scoring at the 10:32 mark with a goal right in front of the net.  Dominik Kubalik and Brandon Saad would be credited with the assists on the goal, their fourth and third assists in the postseason, respectively.

Chicago looks to be playing a much more focused game and Vegas doesn’t seem to be taking the Blackhawks serious in this contest, even if Vegas is getting off good shot attempts.

Alex DeBrincat scores to give the Blackhawks the 2-0 lead with his second goal of the playoffs at 18:19.  Dylan Strome and Connor Murphy get the assists on the goal, Strome’s first and Murphy’s fourth.  Max Pacioretty gets Vegas on the board with his first goal of the playoffs at 19:29.  Brayden McNabb and William Karlsson are credited with the assists on the goal.

At the end of the first period, Chicago leads 2-1.

CHI Goal	Jonathan Toews (5)	Assisted by	Dominik Kubalik (4)	Brandon Saad (3)	10:32
CHI Goal	Alex DeBrincat (2)	Assisted by	Dylan Strome (1)	Connor Murphy (4)	18:19
VGK Goal	Max Pacioretty (1)	Assisted by	Brayden McNabb (2)	William Karlsson (3)	19:29

1st Period Stats

	Chicago	Vegas
Faceoffs	11/16	5/16
Power Play	0/0	0/0
Shots	10	13
Hits	14	17

2nd Period Analysis and Summary:

Mark Stone ties up the contest 57 seconds into the period with his fourth goal of the postseason.  William Karlsson gets his second assist of the contest and Pacioretty earned his first assist of the postseason.

 

 

Chicago re-takes the lead with Patrick Kane’s goal at 4:02, thanks to a Golden Knights turnover by Nate Schmidt.  The goal is Kane’s second in the postseason and his first in this series.  Vegas goes on their first power play of the game when Chicago’s Adam Boqvist is called for Holding the stick at the 6:22 mark.

 

 

Vegas gets the Power Play goal when Alec Martinez scores at 7:28, his first goal of the postseason.

 

 

 At 14:22, the Golden Knights go on their first Power Play of the contest when Shea Theodore is called for slashing against the Blackhawks.  The power play comes to an end when the Blackhawks are unable to score.  

After a few attempts from the Golden Knights to take the lead, the period comes to a conclusion as we head to the second intermission with the score tied 3-3

VGK Goal	Mark Stone (4)	Assisted by	William Karlsson (4)	Max Pacioretty (1)	0:57
CHI Goal	Patrick Kane (2)	Assisted by	Drake Caggiula (2)		4:02
CHI Penalty	Adam Boqvist	for	Holding the Stick	2 min minor	6:22
VGK PPG	Alec Martinez (1)	Assisted by	Reilly Smith (5)	Nate Schmidt (4)	7:28
VGK Penalty	Shea Theodore	for	Slashing	2 min minor	14:22

2nd Period Stats

	Chicago	Vegas
Faceoffs	24/39	15/39
Power Play	0/1	1/1
Shots	19	28
Hits	23	32

3rd Period Analysis and Summary

Alex Tuch gives the Vegas Golden Knights the lead with a goal 1:34 into the period.  The goal by Tuch would be his fourth in the playoffs.  This would also be the first lead the Golden Knights would take in the game.  Jonathan Marchessault and Shea Theodore both would be credited with the assists on the Tuch goal.

For the duration of the period, Vegas is attacking the net to extend their lead but the shots are being blocked.

Vegas extends the lead when Tuch scores his second goal of the game at the 15:13 mark, which would be challenged by Chicago for Goaltender Interference.  Chicago’s challenge for goaltender interference would be successful after there was incidental contact on Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford.  As such, the goal comes off the board and the score remains 4-3 Vegas.

Chicago can’t score and their season comes to a close as the Vegas Golden Knights win the game 4-3 and the series 4-1.

VGK Goal	Alex Tuch (4)	Assisted by	Jonathan Marchessault (5)	Shea Theodore (3)	1:34
VGK Goal	Alex Tuch (5)	Assisted by	Chandler Stephenson (1)	Nate Schmidt (5)	15:13
Chicago successful challenge for Goaltender Interference

3rd Period Stats

	Chicago	Vegas
Faceoffs	27/49	22/49
Power Play	0/1	1/1
Shots	26	39
Hits	34	39

Up Next:

Chicago Blackhawks:  2020-2021 NHL Season

Vegas Golden Knights:  Advance to Second Round of Stanley Cup Playoffs