The Vegas Golden Knights were in the same spot on Tuesday that the Anaheim Ducks will be Friday.
It’s the first game of the season. The energy will likely be high. Anaheim is also facing the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season, so there’s that, too.
If the Knights can replicate much of what they did in their season-opening win over the Chicago Blackhawks, it’ll be a successful start to the season.
“They’re playing their first game of the year. We know what that felt like the other night,” Knights coach Ryan Craig said. “There are pros and cons to that. Other than that, we’ll be ready.”
Despite it being a rematch of the second-round series that the Knights won in six games, this isn’t the same Ducks team.
Their blue line is completely overhauled from the veterans that occupied it in the spring. Gone are Jacob Trouba and John Carlson. The leaders are now Jackson LaCombe (25) and Pavel Mintyukov (22).
Anaheim also signed Tristan Luneau, 22, to a six-year, $43.2 million contract on Thursday despite playing in 14 NHL games.
The forwards are where the Ducks make their money. That’s selling it short because the Ducks’ young forwards broke the bank this summer.
Center Leo Carlsson signed the most lucrative offer sheet of this era when he signed a five-year, $90 million deal with the Philadelphia Flyers that the Ducks matched. The 21-year-old will make $18 million the next five years.
Forward Cutter Gauthier was locked up on a six-year, $81 million deal on Sept. 15 after a 41-goal season.
Anaheim bought out former 50-goal scorer Chris Kreider. Centers Mikael Granlund and Ryan Poehling move up the lineup.
Other than four preseason games on tape, there’s not much to what the Ducks look like.
“Our guys that were here know the group they played in the second round,” Craig said. “There’s certain things that were talked about in that series and were adjusted as the series went on.”
The second round was when center William Karlsson returned to the lineup after missing 68 games with a hamstring injury. The line of Karlsson, Mitch Marner and Brett Howden combined for 19 points in the series.
Marner had 11 of the points, including the goal of the playoffs in the clinching Game 6. He had his first career playoff hat trick in Game 3.
Karlsson’s line was the only trio that didn’t register a point in the 5-2 win over Chicago. The three had their chances — a couple of backdoor opportunities went wide — but couldn’t convert.
“We’ve got to lock it in a little more,” Karlsson said. “The chances were there. Hopefully we can keep creating chances.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
Up next
Who: Anaheim Ducks at Golden Knights
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: T-Mobile Arena
TV: KMCC-34
Streaming: KnightTime+
Radio: KVGS 107.9 FM/KOAS 105.7 FM (Spanish)
Line: Knights -190; total 6½