Golden Knights return to winning ways over Ducks

By Justin Emerson

Published Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019 | 10:47 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019 | 2:36 p.m.

The Golden Knights don't lose to the Anaheim Ducks often, which made their defeat in Anaheim last week notable. It was the first time they had lost on the road to the Ducks, and in their rematch on Tuesday, returned to what they know.

The Golden Knights surrendered the first goal then answered with four in a row, cruising to a 5-2 victory over Anaheim at T-Mobile Arena. Vegas improved to 9-2-0 all-time against the Ducks.

The first period was all Vegas. The Golden Knights outshot the Ducks 22-5 and despite allowing a Korbinian Holzer goal, continued to play most of the period in the Anaheim end. Mark Stone helped them break through at 14:36, bodying the puck off the Ducks' stick and whipping it into the net to tie the game 1-1.

The second goal ended up in the Anaheim net thanks to a Ducks defenseman. It appeared like the puck was frozen under goalie John Gibson, but the whistle never blew. The puck trickled out from underneath Gibson and Josh Manson inadvertently tapped it it into the net for a 2-1 Vegas lead.

Reilly Smith owned the third goal, grabbing a turnover and showing off some slick stick-work to score at 17:55 in the second. Then with 9:04 left in the game, Jonathan Marchessault was tripped up on a breakaway and converted on the ensuing penalty shot to make the lead 4-1.

The Ducks added one more before the game ended, as Jakob Silfverberg scored seconds after an Anaheim penalty expired.

Marchessault added his second goal of the game against an empty net with 1:54 to play.

The Golden Knights led in shots on goal 41-28 and won for the fifth time in their last six home games

Golden Knights extend lead over Ducks in second

The second period didn't have the action that the first period did, but just like the first the Golden Knights outscored the Anaheim Ducks by a goal and extended their lead to 3-1.

The Golden Knights started off the first period hot, but were very sluggish to begin the second. They mustered just one shot on goal in the first 12:06 of the period. The good news was the Ducks couldn't get anything going either. Both teams struggled to maintain any zone time and at the second TV timeout at 12:28, Anaheim had six shots to Vegas' two.

The shots starting coming as the period progressed but they came without good scoring chances. That was until Reilly Smith, like Mark Stone in the first, decided to take it himself.

Smith collected the puck, dangled the defenseman while skating across the slot, hesitated just long enough to fool John Gibson and back-handed it into the net at 17:55 to give Vegas a 3-1 lead. It was 15th goal of the season, unassisted.

Anaheim had the lead in shots on goal 12-11 for the period, though Vegas led 33-17 for the game.

Golden Knights grab early lead over Ducks

There were three goals in the first period and two of them walked the line between fortunate and freakish. The Golden Knights scored two of period's goals and led the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 after one.

Despite the Golden Knights taking eight of the game's first nine shots, it was the Ducks that scored first. The first shot Marc-Andre Fleury denied, but the puck dropped in front of the crease and Vegas was unable to clear it. Korbinian Holzer jumped on it and chipped it over Fleury and into the net at 8:13 for a 1-0 Ducks lead. 

There was a similar scrum in front of the Anaheim net moments later, but John Gibson stood tall. Jonathan Marchessault had four shots in three seconds on his own, bbut they couldn't beat Gibson.

All it took was an incredible individual effort later by Mark Stone. It started when Stone bullied Anaheim center Sam Steel off the puck, then collected a loose puck and fired it by Gibson for his third goal in two games at 14:36 to even the game at 1-1.

The Golden Knights then took the lead on a bizarre play. As a Vegas power play expired, it appeared that Gibson froze the puck for a whistle. It looked like the play was over but the puck slid out from under Gibson and no one saw it. Anaheim's Josh Manson skated by and accidentally tapped the puck into his own net after Alex Tuch dislodged it. Tuch received credit for a weird goal in a weird period.

The Golden Knights dominated play and probably deserved to be up by more than a goal. They led in shots on goal 23-5, tied for the most shots on goal in a period this season. They also had 17 scoring chances and 11 high-danger chances.

Golden Knights look to end 2019 on high note against Ducks

It's the last game of the calendar year, a New Year's Eve matinee between the Golden Knights and the visiting Anaheim Ducks.

These two met four days ago, the first game back after the Christmas break. It was an uncharacteristically sloppy game from Vegas that turned into a loss, and the Golden Knights are eager for another crack at the Ducks when the puck drops at noon today at T-Mobile Arena.

"Coming off the break, we didn't play the way we wanted to, and they were in the same situation as us," Vegas forward Ryan Reaves said. "Especially a division game, I think we want to get that one back."

There are really two schools of thought. Hockey players are competitive, and laying an egg against a divisional opponent is always a shot to the pride. Then again, it's an 82-game season, and bad games tend to happen.

Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty falls into the latter category.

"Honestly, I don't really care. You play so many games, you try to go out and do your best no matter who we play," he said. "Obviously, we had a very poor showing against them, and we want to make sure every team knows we're a tough team to play against, but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter."

The Golden Knights are on top of the Pacific Division by total points with a chance to extend that lead against a team near the bottom of the standings. The Ducks are in sixth place in the division with a seven-point gap between them and fifth-place Edmonton. To illustrate the divide, the gap between Edmonton and Vegas is just four points.

And Anaheim is a team that the Golden Knights have always had success against. Prior to Friday's loss, Vegas was 8-1 all time against the Ducks, including a 4-1 record at T-Mobile Arena.

"I don't think we played the way we would have liked coming out of the break," Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore said. "Playing at home (on Saturday against Arizona), I thought we got our legs under us. It's a big game, and these points are going to be critical down the stretch."

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

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-240, Ducks plus-190; over/under: 5.5 (plus-110, minus-130)

Golden Knights (21-15-6, 48 points) (11-7-3 home), first place, Pacific Division

Coach: Gerard Gallant (third season)

Points leader: Max Pacioretty (40)

Goals leader: Max Pacioretty (16)

Assists leader: Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone (24)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (2.74 GAA, .912 save percentage)

Ducks (16-18-5, 37 points) (6-11-2 road), sixth place, Pacific Division; seventh place, Wild Card

Coach: Dallas Eakins (first season)

Points leader: Jakob Silfverberg (26)

Goals leader: Jakob Silfverberg (13)

Assists leader: Hampus Lindholm (16)

Expected goalie: John Gibson (2.85 GAA, .908 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty—Chandler Stephenson—Mark Stone

Alex Tuch—Paul Stastny—Cody Glass

William Carrier—Tomas Nosek—Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb—Nate Schmidt

Nick Holden—Shea Theodore

Jon Merrill—Deryk Engelland

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban