Here are three things to watch in Game 5:<\/p>\n
1. Jack Eichel<\/p>\n
The Vegas center leads the series with six points (one goal, five assists) in four games after a three-assist performance in Game 4.<\/p>\n
He played 29:22, most among forwards on either team, and set up the tying goal by forward Brett Howden<\/a>\u00a0at 10:25 of the third period and the winning goal by defenseman Shea Theodore<\/a> at 19:08 of overtime.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt good,\u201d Eichel told the Golden Knights radio broadcast. \u201cI was happy to help the group in different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n Eichel has 49 points (11 goals, 38 assists) in 44 playoff games for Vegas since 2023, 11 more than anyone else for the franchise in that span.<\/p>\n 2. Power plays<\/p>\n The Golden Knights shuffled their power-play units before Game 4, then shuffled them further during the game.<\/p>\n Most notably, Theodore replaced Mitch Marner<\/a>\u00a0as the quarterback on the first unit, then Theodore and Marner played up top together for a power play in overtime.<\/p>\n Still, Vegas went 0-for-4 and is 1-for-12 over the past three games.<\/p>\n Tortorella said Wednesday he didn\u2019t like what he saw in Game 4. The Golden Knights had Marner at the bumper spot and Theodore on top at one point at the morning skate.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what they\u2019re going to do, but we\u2019ll have to see the first unit,\u201d said Utah defenseman Ian Cole<\/a>, a key penalty killer. \u201cWe\u2019ll try to get through that first power play and see where they\u2019re going, where guys are. \u2026 It\u2019s an interesting game of chess.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Ice time<\/p>\n Utah forward JJ Peterka<\/a> played one shift in Game 4 after taking a high-sticking penalty at 5:39 of the third period, stalling the Mammoth\u2019s momentum 29 seconds after center Clayton Keller<\/a> had scored to give them a 4-3 lead. He played 10:18; only forward Liam O’Brien<\/a> (8:11) played less among Utah skaters.<\/p>\n In his first playoff series, Peterka has no points and is minus-3, after the 24-year-old had 47 points (25 goals, 22 assists) and was plus-6 in 82 regular-season games. Tourigny had a long talk with him on the ice at the morning skate.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all know what he\u2019s capable of doing, and we must not forget, there\u2019s a lot of guys who are in their first playoffs,\u201d Tourigny said. \u201cYou hear there\u2019s no space. \u2018OK, well, what exactly is that, and how does that affect my game? How will that be, and how hard will be the battles?\u2019 \u2026 For any of those guys who are in their first NHL playoff, OK, now they have a real taste.\u201d<\/p>\n