Ducks' four-goal head start stands up in 4-3 win over Golden Knights

Anaheim's cushion arrived in a rush

The Ducks seized the game with timing that Vegas never quite recovered from. Beckett Sennecke opened the scoring at 19:52 of the first period, wiring a wrist shot past Carter Hart with help from Leo Carlsson and Tristan Luneau. Instead of a scoreless opening frame, Vegas went to intermission chasing the game after one late mistake.

Anaheim then turned that edge into a problem in the first 2:28 of the second. Alex Killorn made it 2-0 at 1:33 on a tip-in set up by Noah Warren and Mikael Granlund, and Jeff Malott followed 55 seconds later with a deflected finish from Tim Washe and Jackson LaCombe. A one-goal night had suddenly become a three-goal deficit before Vegas could reset.

Carlsson added the Ducks' fourth at 7:03 of the second, finishing a snap shot with A.J. Greer and Cutter Gauthier drawing the assists. That gave Anaheim four goals from four different scorers, with Carlsson standing out by pairing his goal with an assist. On a night when the Ducks generated 20 shots, that early scoring efficiency put the rest of the game on Vegas' terms and left Hart with a .800 save percentage.

Vegas pushed back, but only after the hole was deep

The Golden Knights finally got on the board at 4:38 of the third when Shea Theodore scored on a snap shot set up by Brett Howden and Jack Eichel. The level changed quickly from there. Just 1:29 later, Tomas Hertl cut the margin to two on a wrist shot, with Mitch Marner and Eichel collecting the assists.

That burst gave Vegas life, and the home side kept pressing long enough to make the finish uncomfortable. Braeden Bowman scored at 17:10 of the third from Victor Olofsson and Brayden McNabb, trimming the deficit to one and turning the final minutes into a proper chase. The Golden Knights finished with a 30-20 edge in shots, won 57.1 per cent of the faceoffs and produced the game's only power-play goal, but they ran out of time after waiting until the third period to convert.

Anaheim's defensive work mattered once the comeback started. Lukas Dostal stopped 27 of 30 shots for a .900 save percentage, and the Ducks also helped him with 16 blocked shots and 25 hits. Luneau finished with five blocks and a team-best plus-3, while LaCombe logged 29:37 and added an assist. Those are heavy, useful numbers in a game where the final margin kept shrinking.

Our take

This was the kind of result Anaheim can enjoy while still treating it as a warning. The Ducks got contributions throughout the lineup, from Sennecke and Carlsson up front to LaCombe and Luneau on the back end, and they proved they can build a lead quickly. But 20 giveaways and a 42.9 per cent faceoff rate helped open the door for Vegas in the third. A cleaner close would have matched the quality of the opening 27 minutes.

For Vegas, the rally was real and the offensive names were familiar. Eichel finished with two assists, Hertl scored, Theodore scored, and Marner added a helper. Still, four goals against on 20 shots is a difficult equation to survive, especially after Anaheim scored once in the final seconds of the first and three more times in the next 7:03 of the second. The Golden Knights can take something from the pushback, but they will not like how much repair work the night required.

In a one-goal final, the defining stretch was not late but early. Anaheim struck with eight seconds left in the first period, then piled on before the second period had settled. Vegas spent the rest of the evening trying to erase that sequence, and even a three-goal third period was not enough to do it.

Scoring moments

1. 1st · 19:52

   Beckett Sennecke Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Leo Carlsson (1), Tristan Luneau (1)

2. 2nd · 1:33

   Alex Killorn Goal (1) Tip-In, assists: Noah Warren (1), Mikael Granlund (1)

3. 2nd · 2:28

   Jeff Malott Goal (1) Deflected, assists: Tim Washe (1), Jackson LaCombe (1)

4. 2nd · 7:03

   Leo Carlsson Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Anthony-John (AJ) Greer (1), Cutter Gauthier (1)

5. 3rd · 4:38

   Shea Theodore Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Brett Howden (1), Jack Eichel (3)

6. 3rd · 6:07

   Tomas Hertl Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Mitch Marner (1), Jack Eichel (4)

7. 3rd · 17:10

   Braeden Bowman Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Victor Olofsson (1), Brayden McNabb (3)