LAS VEGAS — The Vegas Golden Knights showed plenty of fight Thursday night. Unfortunately for Vegas, the comeback came too late.

After opening the season with a convincing win over the Chicago Blackhawks, the Golden Knights found themselves digging out of a four-goal hole against the Anaheim Ducks, ultimately falling 4-3 at T-Mobile Arena.

The loss marked the first of Ryan Craig’s NHL head-coaching career and came in his first matchup against a Pacific Division opponent.

Vegas opened its 10th season with a 5-2 victory over Chicago on Tuesday, but the Golden Knights struggled to find the same rhythm against an Anaheim team playing its first game of the season.

The Ducks were eliminated by Vegas in six games in the second round of last season’s playoffs, and they came into T-Mobile Arena without one of their key offensive pieces. Troy Terry was placed on long-term injured reserve Wednesday with a hip injury. Terry has historically been productive against Vegas, recording 18 points in 27 career games against the Golden Knights.

Still, Anaheim found plenty of offense without him.

Ducks strike late in a quiet first period

For most of the opening 20 minutes, neither team could generate much offensively. Both sides had opportunities on the power play, but the score remained tied — until the final seconds of the period.

With just six seconds remaining, Leo Carlsson delivered a perfectly placed stretch pass behind the Vegas defense to Beckett Sennecke. Sennecke found himself alone against Carter Hart and made no mistake, firing a bar-down shot to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead heading into the intermission. That goal opened the floodgates.

Anaheim takes control in the second

The Ducks came out of the first intermission with a completely different level of pace. Alex Killorn doubled Anaheim’s lead when he redirected a point shot from Noah Warren past Hart. Just 55 seconds later, Anaheim struck again. Jeff Malott battled in front of the net, and a shot deflected off his skate before finding its way past Hart to make it 3-0.

Then came another costly turnover. Brayden McNabb turned the puck over near center ice, creating a two-on-one opportunity for Anaheim. Hart kept Vegas alive with two impressive saves, but the Ducks had a third skater trailing the play. With the net essentially wide open, Carlsson buried the opportunity to make it 4-0.

For a Ducks team playing its first game of the season, Anaheim looked like the fresher team. The Ducks consistently won races to loose pucks, forced Vegas into rushed decisions and capitalized on turnovers. At the other end, Lukas Dostal gave Anaheim exactly what it needed in net, stopping all 17 Vegas shots through two periods. The Golden Knights had been shut out for 40 minutes and were staring at a four-goal deficit. 

Vegas mounts a furious third-period comeback

Shea Theodore broke the shutout early in the third, roofing a shot past Dostal to make it 4-1 and immediately bringing life back into T-Mobile Arena. Anaheim challenged the goal for offsides, but the challenge was unsuccessful, giving Vegas a power play. The Golden Knights took advantage.

During the man advantage, Mitch Marner sent a pass behind the Anaheim net that deflected off a Ducks defenseman and landed directly in front of Tomas Hertl. Hertl made no mistake, tapping the puck home to cut the deficit to 4-2. Suddenly, Vegas had momentum. The Golden Knights continued pressing, and with 2:50 remaining, their fourth line provided another spark. Braeden Bowman won a battle in front of the net and buried the rebound, cutting Anaheim’s lead to just one. T-Mobile Arena was alive again.

Vegas pulled Hart for the extra attacker and threw everything it had at Dostal in the final minutes. The Golden Knights generated chances, but Dostal refused to give them the equalizer. The Ducks held on. What looked like a potential blowout after 40 minutes turned into a one-goal game, but Vegas could not complete the comeback.

A familiar problem resurfaces

Despite the late rally, the Golden Knights were left looking at a familiar problem. Vegas struggled during the second period, allowing three goals in a span of just over five minutes and putting itself in a position where it had to spend the final 20 minutes trying to erase a massive deficit.

That pattern was familiar to the Golden Knights last season, when inconsistent second periods often forced the team into playing from behind late in games. After the loss, that very issue was brought up to captain Mark Stone and Craig. For Craig, Thursday’s game provided his first real lesson as an NHL head coach.

The Golden Knights will now look to correct those issues as they hit the road for their next two games. The comeback showed Vegas still had plenty of fight. They will fly up to Vancouver, Canada for their first road game of the season to take on the Canucks this Sunday.

Final: Ducks 4, Golden Knights 3.