Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Golden Knights outlast Ducks for shootout win

Golden Knights Ducks

AP Photo / John Locher

Vegas Golden Knights left wing James Neal, right, celebrates with left wing Erik Haula after Neal scored against the Anaheim Ducks during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017, in Las Vegas.

Updated Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017 | 9:54 p.m.

Alex Tuch deked Anaheim goaltender John Gibson and fired a backhand shot into the top of the net for the first goal of the shootout for the Golden Knights. Malcolm Subban stopped all three Ducks' attempts and the Golden Knights won the first shootout in T-Mobile Arena history Tuesday night...

Ducks lead 3-2 after second period

The second period may have been the Golden Knights’ worst period of the season to this point, as they surrendered three unanswered goals to the Ducks.

Anaheim leads 3-2 heading into the final period after dominating the Vegas in the middle stanza.

Francois Beauchemin got the Ducks on the board first with a slap shot one minute into the second period. Golden Knights goalie Malcolm Subban was screened on the shot and never saw it.

Antoine Vermette then scored a power play goal to tie the game when he tipped Kevin Bieksa’s shot past Subban with 14:58 left in the period.

Finally, Corey Perry gave the Ducks the lead when he snuck behind the Golden Knights’ defense and fired a slapshot past Subban.

The Golden Knights have outshot the Ducks 24-15 through two periods, and are 3-5-1 this season when trailing entering the third period.

Golden Knights lead 2-0 after one period

James Neal scored his 13th goal of the season to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead over the Anaheim Ducks.

By the time the goal song finished playing, Oscar Lindberg had scored again.

The two goals in a span of 16 seconds have Vegas leading 2-0 after the first period at T-Mobile Arena.

The goaltenders stole the show during the first 18 minutes of the period, with Anaheim’s John Gibson and Vegas’ Malcolm Subban trading spectacular saves.

Gibson robbed Alex Tuch early, sliding across the crease to glove Tuch’s one-timer shot for a save that was so surprising the goal song accidentally played following it.

Not to be outdone, Subban stopped three different breakaway attempts by the Ducks, and stopped all seven of Anaheim’s shots in the period.

Pre game

Two weeks ago the Golden Knights went into Anaheim and handed the Ducks a 4-2 loss in their home building. Tonight, the Ducks are in Las Vegas to seek revenge.

The division rivals are separated by only six points in the standings, but the Golden Knights thoroughly dominated Anaheim in their first meeting.

“I thought we caught them at a good time last game,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “We played a really good game against them. We played quick and had a lot of good scoring chances and, obviously, they didn’t play their best game.”

That loss for the Ducks started a seven-game tailspin in which they’ve won only one game.

“We expect a completely different team tonight,” Gallant said.

Since that meeting, the Ducks have traded star defenseman Sami Vatanen to the New Jersey Devils for young center Adam Henrique. Anaheim has been plagued by injuries at the center position, with Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kessler out, and Henrique should bring some much-needed offense to the 28th ranked offense in the NHL.

“(Henrique) is a good player,” Gallant said. “He played really well in New Jersey, and he’s a fast guy with good skill and good speed. They added some offense.”

Vegas snapped a three-game losing streak with an overtime win over Arizona on Sunday and will be hoping to continue its winning ways tonight against the Ducks. The Golden Knights are 10-2-0 at home this season, tied for the best home record in the league.

“Our last game was a good step to snap that short losing streak, but we just have to keep it going,” Vegas forward Stefan Matteau said. “If we can just keep going north, getting it in their zone and keeping them tired, then the transition game can be huge.”

Prediction : Golden Knights 3, Ducks 1

Season record for predictions: 16-8

Puck drops: 7 p.m.

Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

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

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-150, Total 5.5 minus-120 to the over

Golden Knights (16-9-1) (10-2-0 home)

Coach: Gerard Gallant

Goal leader: William Karlsson (14)

Assist leader: Jonathan Marchessault (15)

Expected goalie: Malcolm Subban (5-2, 2.19 goals against average)

Anaheim Ducks (11-11-5) (5-4-3 away)

Coach: Randy Carlyle

Goal leader: Rickard Rakell (8)

Assist leader: Corey Perry (14)

Expected goalie: John Gibson (8-10-1, 2.98 goals against average)

Golden Knights game day roster

Forwards (12): Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Cody Eakin, Erik Haula, William Karlsson, Brendan Leipsic, Oscar Lindberg, Jonathan Marchessault, Stefan Matteau, James Neal, Tomas Nosek, Reilly Smith and Alex Tuch.

Defensemen (6): Deryk Engelland, Brayden McNabb, Colin Miller, Luca Sbisa, Nate Schmidt and Shea Theodore.

Goalies (2): Malcolm Subban and Maxime Lagace