By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — The hometown Ducks defeated the Vegas Golden Knights, 4-3, tonight and guaranteed the Best-of-7 series returns to SoCal Thursday.
Anaheim came out with energy and juice and jumped to 1-0, 2-1 and 4-2 leads before VGK’s Tomas Hertl broke his longest scoreless streak with a goal for the final 4-3 score.
The series is tied at two apiece with Game 5 at the Big Ice House by the Strip at 6:30PM Tuesday with Game 6 back in Anaheim Thursday.
The VGK had goals by Pavel Dorofeyev, who tied the game at one each with a power play goal in the first, and red-hot Brett Howden, who took a sweet pass from William Karlsson and tied the game, 2-2, in the second before Hertl’s late game tally.
Vegas played without injured Mark Stone.
The Golden Knights allowed only one power play goal in the playoffs coming into the game, but Anaheim scored two goals on four PPs tonight. Anaheim was 0-for-11 on power plays before 20-year-old rookie Beckett Sennecke opened the scoring with a PP goal.
It was a packed Honda Center with attendance reported at 16,826. The Ducks are back in the postseason for the first time since 2018.