Anaheim Ducks ‘Look Like The Real Deal’: Division-Leading Team Knocks Off VGK In Overtime, 4-3, Saturday
ADVERTISEMENT
Shop at Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo Road at the Koval Lane intersection east of the Strip.
ADVERTISEMENT
Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — The Vegas Golden Knights typically toy with the Anaheim Ducks, but those days might be ending.
After two periods, the Ducks looked like a much-improved, speedy team with some talented young players like 20-year-old Leo Carlsson and vets like winger Chris Kreider.
In the end, the Anaheim Ducks blew a 3-1 lead in the third period, but ended up beating their nemesis the Vegas Golden Knights, 4-3, in overtime on a goal by defenseman Jacob Trouba.
The Ducks are now 10-3-1 for 21 points, while Vegas fell to 7-3-4 for 18 points.
“They look like the real deal,” VGK coach Bruce Cassidy said after the OT loss.
After the Knights jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a nice feed from William Karlsson to Brett Howden, the team four hours south on I-15 in Orange County, California responded with a goal by fourth line winger Frank Vatrano on a re-direct and two goals by that emerging star, Carlsson. Karlsson did not play after the first period.
The Golden Knights had a 27-7-1 record against Anaheim entering tonight’s game. The Ducks have not been in the NHL playoffs since the 2018-19 season.
Anaheim, which came to Las Vegas leading the division over Seattle and the VGK, held a 3-1 lead over Vegas heading into the final 20 minutes.
The Ducks are now coached by Joel Quenneville, a veteran NHL coach who drew a 2021 ban from coaching in the National Hockey League for the way he handled a sexual assault allegation by a former player in Chicago in 2010. Quenneville won Stanley Cup championships with Chicago in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
In the third period, the Knights reduced the deficit to a single goal when Pavel Dorofeyev picked up a power play goal, his tenth on the season. Vegas was struggling on its power play after being one of the best PP clubs last season.
It was Anaheim 3 Vegas 2 as the Knights tried to mount a comeback on goalie Petr Mrazek, the 33-year-old Czech.
The VGK played with urgency in the third and their pressure on Anaheim paid off when defenseman Kaedan Korczak tied the game at three.
The Golden Knights got 21 shots on goal against Mrazek in the third period, outshooting the Ducks, 21-6, as the game went to overtime, 3-3.
Both teams had good scoring chances in OT, but it was Trouba, the former New York Rangers player, who scored the winning goal.
Vegas plays Monday against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
PSA
