LAS VEGAS \u2013 The Anaheim Ducks put the Vegas Golden Knights on notice Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena with a dominant 3-1 victory in Game 2 to even the second-round series 1-1 as it shifts to Anaheim.<\/p>\n
The scoreline wasn\u2019t indicative of how lopsided the contest was. Vegas netminder Carter Hart was exceptional to keep it as close as he did, as the Ducks\u2019 speedy offensive attack swarmed the Golden Knights from start to finish.<\/p>\n
Anaheim\u2019s Lukas Dostal stopped 21 of 22 shots in a stellar effort. In front of him, the Ducks have looked like the faster, more assertive team over the first two games of this series. They\u2019ve been quicker to loose pucks, and stronger along the boards to territorially dominate the games.<\/p>\n
After a scoreless first period, Anaheim\u2019s pressure finally broke through midway through the second period, when Beckett Sennecke delivered a 1-0 lead with a one-timer from the doorstep. The Ducks had been pressuring in the Vegas zone for several consecutive shifts when Jeffrey Viel found Sennecke in front from below the goal line.<\/p>\n
Leo Carlsson extended Anaheim\u2019s lead to 2-0 early in the third period on a backdoor feed from Troy Terry. Vegas responded with its strongest push to this point in the series over the second half of the final frame, but Anaheim held most of the shots to the outside and Dostal stood strong in net.<\/p>\n
Vegas coach John Tortorella was aggressive, pulling Hart for the extra attacker with more than three minutes left, but Jansen Harkins quickly made it 3-0 with an empty-net goal. Mark Stone scored a goal in the closing seconds for Vegas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d Dostal said of losing his first chance at a playoff shutout. \u201cIt\u2019s still one (win) in the series. I always say it doesn\u2019t matter how you win or what the score is. It\u2019s always the cherry on the top but it doesn\u2019t really matter. We get a \u2018W\u2019 and that\u2019s all we focus on.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ducks head back to the Honda Center for Game 3 on Friday having taken home-ice advantage from the Golden Knights, and must feel confident about their game after two impressive performances in Vegas.<\/p>\n
Vegas\u2019 penalty kill comes up aces early<\/p>\n
The Golden Knights\u2019 penalty kill has been excellent in this postseason, and it was given its toughest test in the opening minutes of Game 2. Vegas committed three penalties in the first six minutes of the contest, including a double-minor for high sticking by Jack Eichel, that resulted in the Ducks playing with the man advantage for more than six straight minutes.<\/p>\n
Anaheim failed to score during that marathon power play and created only one real scoring chance. That shot, a shoveled one-timer by Troy Terry in the slot, was stopped by Hart. The Ducks spent the remainder of the power play mostly passing the puck around the perimeter of the zone, and weren\u2019t able to break down Vegas\u2019 kill, even with only three defenders for over a minute.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust determination, really,\u201d Stone said. \u201cIt was just pure determination by the guys to keep the puck out of the net. It\u2019s been good for us the majority of the postseason, just doing whatever we can to keep the puck out of the net.\u201d<\/p>\n
This was a strength-versus-strength battle coming into this series, after the Ducks converted at a 50 percent rate in the first round against Edmonton, and through two games, the Golden Knights\u2019 penalty kill is winning the matchup handedly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOutstanding,\u201d Tortorella said of the penalty kill. \u201cIt kind of screws us up. We wanted to try to get a good start, and we\u2019re sitting in the box. The penalty kill has been fantastic, and that was a key part of the game. We just couldn\u2019t make it stand.\u201d<\/p>\n
McTavish a late out<\/p>\n
Speaking of a suddenly inefficient Ducks power play, Mason McTavish was a late scratch. The top-nine forward had an uneven, disappointing season but had a presence on their second unit that had been terrific in the first round.<\/p>\n
McTavish had a down year with 17 goals and 41 points after establishing career highs across the board in 2024-25. The 23-year-old still had six goals on the power play, which was one off his personal best set during his rookie season. He has a powerful one-time shot but has seen some of those opportunities from the right circle taken by Cutter Gauthier and Mikael Granlund.<\/p>\n
The bigger deal beyond these playoffs is whether McTavish fits into Joel Quenneville\u2019s future while he is coach. He was a healthy scratch a couple times during the regular season and is essentially now a full-time winger as the Ducks have gone with Granlund as their 2C behind Leo Carlsson and with the other two spots held down by Poehling and Tim Washe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything missing,\u201d Quenneville said. \u201cOur power play didn\u2019t score (in Game 1) and he was pretty good on our power play in the last series and (it) seems like at this part of the season here, the latter part of this season, he has the puck a lot more and he\u2019s been effective for us in a lot of ways. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur centermen that we like in the middle, I think that\u2019s probably where he\u2019s missing the quality ice time or what his normal position is. We just want to get a couple of guys in, but we expect him, at some point, to make it back.\u201d<\/p>\n
McTavish is in the first year of a six-year, $7 million average annual value contract that he signed before this season after a challenging contract battle and partial holdout. He had a goal and three assists against Edmonton but played only 9:09 in Game 1.<\/p>\n
Goalie duel<\/p>\n
Dostal and Hart weren\u2019t at their best for the first round of the playoffs, but they were both good in Game 1, and sensational on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Hart was the only reason the Ducks didn\u2019t race out to a massive lead over the first 40 minutes of action. He darted back and forth across his crease, making lateral save after lateral save as Anaheim fired everything toward the Vegas net.<\/p>\n
Dostal didn\u2019t face the same quantity of shots, but the Golden Knights generated a few dangerous looks and he stood tall. On Vegas\u2019 power play in the second period, defenseman Rasmus Andersson unleashed a slap shot through traffic. Dostal fought through the traffic to get his glove on the shot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s great for everybody,\u201d Quenneville said. \u201cHim primarily, and the guys in front of him as well. We all know the importance of the position. It gets magnified in the playoffs, and grows in its importance as you go through it. It\u2019s two solid games. Their goalie has been tough, so I think the goaltending has been outstanding in the two games.\u201d <\/p>\n
Dostal\u2019s best, and most consequential, save came midway through the third period on a one-timer by Vegas\u2019 William Karlsson in the slot. It was one of the Golden Knights\u2019 strongest shifts of the game, as Karlsson and Mitch Marner zipped the puck around the Anaheim zone. That resulted in Karlsson\u2019s blast, but Dostal slid across his crease to absorb it without offering a rebound. Anaheim scored to extend its lead to two goals shortly after.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 1-0, and (Karlsson) has a great chance, and their goalie makes a great save,\u201d Tortorella said. \u201cYou look at those types of situations, and (wonder) if we score, does that jump start us a little bit? Give the goalie credit. He made some really good saves in the third period.\u201d <\/p>\n
Savvy acquisitions<\/p>\n
Viel and Poehling were two acquisitions that Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek made over the past year to diversify his roster. The two no-frills forwards continue to make an impact in this postseason with clutch plays.<\/p>\n
On the first Anaheim goal, Jackson LaCombe\u2019s long pass into the Vegas zone forced Knights defenseman Kaedan Korczak to retreat and play the puck back off the side boards. Poehling sealed off the wall and bounced the puck back down below the goal line. Viel got to it and fed a wide-open Sennecke in front.<\/p>\n
The scoring play gave Viel his first assist and point in the series after he scored in Games 3 and 4 against the Oilers, both home victories. Poehling also got his first assist and point in the two games after scoring four times in the first round, including the Game 4 winner in overtime and Game 6 clincher.<\/p>\n
Depth tweaks for Ducks<\/p>\n
The surprise scratch of McTavish wasn\u2019t the only lineup switch Quenneville made for Game 2. Ian Moore also came out of the lineup for the first time as Ross Johnston and Harkins made their debut in these playoffs. The moves had Quenneville seeking more of a physical element against the brawny Knights.<\/p>\n
Quenneville changed his fourth line and had Johnston starting out with Harkins and Poehling. The shifting between the lines continued as Viel moved up to the third line with Washe and Beckett Sennecke. Gauthier replaced Sennecke on the second line and started with Granlund and Alex Killorn.<\/p>\n
Johnston and Harkins had to recover from injuries late in the season. It was the first game for Johnston since March 10, because he dealt with a lower-body issue. Meanwhile, Harkins hadn\u2019t played since being forced to leave a March 24 game against Vancouver. He needed to undergo hand surgery a week later.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re ready to play,\u201d Quenneville said. \u201cThey\u2019re just waiting for the opportunity. (With) Ross, I thought that line all year long, the line that he was on was the most consistent line in every game. He makes an impact on a game physically, but at the same time first shift out there, he\u2019s got Jack Eichel with a puck coming down on a one-on-one. Handled it pretty well. So, that was a good indication that he was ready.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2013 The Anaheim Ducks put the Vegas Golden Knights on notice Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,824,165,164,404,8614],"class_list":["post-304094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-ducks","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-nhl","tag-vegas-golden-knights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}