The Vegas Golden Knights, who have dominated the Anaheim Ducks since joining the NHL in 2017, were handed a rare defeat by their division rivals. A three-goal burst in the second period helped the Ducks secure a 4-3 victory on Friday night.
Cam Fowler had a goal and an assist, while Adam Henrique and Max Comtois also found the back of the net during the decisive stretch for Anaheim. Jakob Silfverberg added two assists, and Devin Shore scored in the third period. After the Christmas break, the Ducks held off a late Vegas rally in both teams’ first game.
Anaheim, currently trying to claw its way out of the Pacific Division basement, took pride in overcoming a team that has dominated them in recent years.
“You know it’s in the back of your mind, so you want to turn that around,” said Henrique. “I thought we played well from start to finish. They got a couple late, but it was a solid team win.”
John Gibson made 26 saves for Anaheim, which was once the Pacific Division powerhouse before the Golden Knights emerged as contenders in their expansion season.
“They’ve had a lot of success early in this league, and we haven’t done well against them,” said Fowler. “I was thinking about the last time we played them (a 5-2 loss in October), and it was probably our worst performance of the year. We got embarrassed, so we wanted to make amends for that tonight.”
Anaheim trailed 1-0 after Jonathan Marchessault’s goal, but they capitalized on a two-man advantage to spark their scoring spree, netting three goals in just 1:37.
Nate Schmidt scored twice late in the game for Vegas, snapping a personal 21-game goal drought, but the Golden Knights couldn’t recover. Malcolm Subban stopped 14 shots for Vegas, which had been unbeaten in its previous four games at Honda Center.
“It was a 2 1/2-minute span that cost us the game,” said Vegas forward Reilly Smith. “They got a couple of fortunate bounces, and that was it.”
After a scoreless first period, William Karlsson set up Marchessault for a breakaway goal to put Vegas ahead 1-0. But the Ducks’ offense came alive during a 5-on-3 power play, with Henrique and Fowler scoring just over a minute apart. Comtois added another goal 14 seconds later, tipping a long shot past Subban.
“There was still half the game left,” said Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant. “We could have returned, but we just couldn’t find a way.”
Shore added an insurance goal in the third period, which proved critical as Schmidt scored twice in the final two minutes, including one with just 5.7 seconds left, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit.
Game Notes:
- Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf left the game briefly after being high-sticked by Tomas Nosek but returned later in the second period.
- Rickard Rakell missed his second consecutive game for Anaheim due to an upper-body injury, while both Getzlaf and Silfverberg returned after battling the flu.
- Anaheim scored three goals in 51 seconds and three in 96 seconds back in 2010.
- The Ducks will visit Vegas for a New Year’s Eve afternoon matchup.
Up Next:
- Golden Knights: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.
- Ducks: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.