Golden Knights rally to beat Ducks in overtime

By Justin Emerson

Published Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021 | 2 p.m.

Updated Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021 | 9:32 p.m.

It took awhile for the Golden Knights to score their first goal of the game. It didn't take them long to score their second.

Max Pacioretty scored just seven seconds into overtime on Saturday, and the Golden Knights came from behind to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 at T-Mobile Arena.

The Golden Knights struggled to get much going in the third at first. After shooting 15 times in the first period, they matched that total in the second and third periods combined when they pulled Marc-Andre Fleury for the extra attacker.

Then they finally struck. Some textbook passing down low led to Jonathan Marchessault feeding William Karlsson, who rifled it home 18:38 into the third period.

Vegas scored its second goal quickly in overtime, winning the draw and moving it up ice quickly. Mark Stone plucked it from the circle and fed Pacioretty for the one-timer.

Marc-Andre Fleury was tremendous for the Golden Knights, keeping them in the game when the offense was struggling. He finished with 21 saves in his first outing of the season.

Anaheim's Max Comtois continued to pester the Golden Knights, scoring in the second period for the game's only goal. He also scored both the Ducks' goals on Thursday, becoming the 10th player in the NHL's modern era to score his team's first three goals of the season.

Vegas finished with a 33-22 edge in shots on goal.

Golden Knights trail Ducks heading to 3rd period

The Golden Knights had plenty of comebacks last season. They'll need one to pick up a win on Saturday.

The Anaheim Ducks broke a scoreless tie near the halfway mark of the game, and Vegas went to the second intermission at T-Mobile Arena in a 1-0 deficit.

The Ducks jumped on the board at the 7:45 mark of the second, taking advantage of a Vegas breakdown in the Anaheim zone. Brayden McNabb pinched in from the blue like and when the puck left the zone Zach Whitecloud was all alone to defend three attacking Ducks.

It went about as expected. Sam Steel and Jacob Larsson provided the set-up and the assists for Max Comtois' third of the season. He scored both Anaheim goals on Thursday, and had three goals on his first three shots of the season.

The Golden Knights were much quieter in the second than they were in the first. They managed 11 shots in the frame, but seemed out of sorts at times and didn't generate many dangerous chances.

Through two period Vegas led in shots on goal 25-13.

Golden Knights, Ducks scoreless after a period

The Golden Knights looked good in the opening period against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, controlling play for the majority of the opening 20 minutes. No one scored though, and the first period at T-Mobile Arena came to a close in a 0-0 tie.

The Golden Knights were dominant in the early-goings, outshooting the Ducks 8-2 at the first TV timeout eight minutes in. They had no trouble slicing through the Anaheim defense and getting an initial shot on goal, though to the Ducks' credit they were able to clear out rebound attempts well to prevent second looks.

The Ducks' best chance of the frame never made it to the net. Vegas' Alex Pietrangelo made an aggressive pinch at the offensive blue line, but when the puck got around him, Anaheim took it the other way. Brayden McNabb hustled back for the Golden Knights, and slid to swat the puck off the stick and prevent a shot attempt.

The Golden Knights took the only penalty of the period, an Alex Tuch slash late in the frame. There will be 17 seconds of short-handed time to start the second period.

Overall though the period was all Vegas, wrapping it up with a 14-6 edge in shots on goal.

Golden Knights looking to perfect power play vs. Ducks

The Golden Knights were only on the power play one time in the initial game of the season on Thursday. But it was intriguing to see how Vegas lined up, particularly the second unit.

That was when winger Alex Tuch took the faceoff — a task traditionally handled by the center. But the unit does not have a true center on it, which isn’t problematic throughout the flow of the game, but not ideal on the power play.

The Golden Knights will look to perfect their overloaded power-play units in tonight’s game against the Anaheim Ducks at T-Mobile Arena. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.

"I don't know if we're comfortable. It's not the optimum situation obviously," coach Peter DeBoer said. "Right now we're trying to put our two best units together. We're hopeful that the faceoff situation, guys will dig in, guys will help each other, some guys will become better at it that it won't be an issue, but it's something that if we can't get fixed with the personnel we have, we might have to look at some different options.

"But right now we love the feel of the two units when they get the puck and get set up, so we're willing to give up a little in the faceoff department."

Also keep in mind that Vegas did not have a preseason because of the pandemic, and Thursday's contest was the first opportunity to work on special teams in a real game. Special teams evolve throughout the year, so it's unlikely the units we saw Thursday will be the same ones even tonight, much less at the end of the year.

It was interesting though to see Tuch take a faceoff, something he did only 20 times last year, almost exclusively when his center was ejected from the circle. He lost the draw on Thursday, the Ducks cleared the puck and Vegas lost a good chunk of its power-play time retrieving the puck. Faceoff wins are from far from a determining factor in winning games, but that one play did expose a weakness in the unit, if only a minor one.

"I was working after practice (yesterday) and watching video and working with both (assistant coaches Steve Spott and Ryan Craig) on different techniques and where success has come for me in the past," Tuch said. "0-for-1, but hopefully I'll get better from there."

It's a good thing to add elite players to a power play, but Alex Pietrangelo's arrival did complicate things a tad. Fellow defenseman Shea Theodore carved a nice spot for himself manning the point as the only defenseman on Vegas' top unit during the playoffs. He was able to distribute or shoot the puck from the top of the "umbrella," the name of the formation.

Pietrangelo was on the top unit Thursday, along with forwards Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, William Karlsson and Cody Glass. Theodore was with defenseman Alec Martinez and forwards Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith and Tuch.

"It's an adjustment, but when our coaching staff looked at the numbers and ran through a lot of things, I think that can benefit how we're moving the puck and how we're running plays," Theodore said. "We have a couple things to work on still — we only had one chance last game — but hopefully we can improve tonight."

TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-235, Ducks plus-205; over/under: 6 (minus-105, minus-115)

Golden Knights (1-0-0, 2 points; t-1st place, West Division)

Coach: Peter DeBoer (second season)

Points leaders: Alec Martinez, Mark Stone (2)

Goals leaders: Five players (1)

Assists leader: Alec Martinez (2)

Expected goalie (last season stats): Marc-Andre Fleury (2.77 GAA, .905 save percentage)

Ducks (0-1-0, 0 points; 8th place, West Division)

Coach: Dallas Eakins (second season)

Points leader: Max Comtois (2)

Goals leader: Max Comtois (2)

Assists leaders: Ryan Getzlaf, Sam Steel (1)

Expected goalie: John Gibson (4.18 GAA, .857 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Max Pacioretty—Chandler Stephenson—Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith

Nicolas Roy—Cody Glass—Alex Tuch

William Carrier—Tomas Nosek—Ryan Reaves

Keegan Kolesar

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb—Alex Pietrangelo

Alec Martinez—Shea Theodore

Zach Whitecloud

Goalies

Marc-André Fleury, Robin Lehner