The Vegas Golden Knights were on the losing end of a 4-3 contest against the Anaheim Ducks when the two clubs met for Game 4 of their second-round series Sunday night at Honda Center.<\/p>\n
Anaheim took a two-goal lead early in the third period, and though Vegas scored to pull within one late in the third, the Golden Knights were unable to reset the score.<\/p>\n
With both teams tied at 2-2, the series now shifts to a best-of-three, with Game 5 set for Tuesday in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
The Golden Knights were without captain Mark Stone, who left Game 3 late in the first period after suffering an apparent lower-body injury. Head coach John Tortorella has not provided an update on Stone, so the extent of his injury remains unknown. Brandon Saad made his 2026 postseason debut as his replacement.<\/p>\n
The Ducks opened the scoring 8:43 into the first period. Carter Hart made the initial stop on Cutter Gauthier but was unable to turn aside Beckett Sennecke\u2019s follow-up. It was Anaheim\u2019s first power-play goal of the series (as well as the first Vegas had allowed during the postseason), and it gave the home team the early lead. <\/p>\n
But less than two minutes later, the Vegas power play answered courtesy of Pavel Dorofeyev. Jack Eichel elected to shoot, and Dorofeyev was there to clean up the rebound on the doorstep to make it a 1-1 game at 10:22.<\/p>\n
With 4:35 remaining in the opening frame, the Ducks beat Hart on a changeup after Cole Smith attempted to lift a stick. The play, which followed a failed clear by Vegas, allowed Anaheim to restore its one-goal lead going into the first intermission.<\/p>\n
But Vegas evened things up at 2-2 just 4:04 into the second period.<\/p>\n
Howden\u2019s seventh of the playoffs (which is tied for the league lead with Matt Boldy and Logan Stankoven) was a full-line goal, with Mitch Marner picking up his second assist of the game and William Karlsson making an incredible pass from behind the net to set up the play.<\/p>\n
However, the back-and-forth action continued, as the Ducks potted their second power-play goal of the night with 2:02 left in the period. Alex Killorn took advantage of a bounce off the ref, drove to the net and got the puck behind Hart to put the Ducks ahead once again.<\/p>\n
This was a critical goal, even if it didn\u2019t prove to be the game-winner. But it gave the Ducks some life and some more confidence, which Anaheim converted into a strong push to start the third period.<\/p>\n
The Ducks\u2019 cycle went to work and went low-to-high to find Ian Moore at the blue line. Moore\u2019s shot went through traffic and straight into the cage at 3:43 to extend the home team\u2019s lead to 4-2.<\/p>\n
This felt like a back-breaker, though the Golden Knights still had 16:17 with which to work.<\/p>\n
Vegas got a late power play but was unable to cash in. However, with Hart pulled, the Golden Knights scored at 6-on-5. Marner\u2019s shot ended up getting blocked, which sent the puck right to Tomas Hertl. After eons of horrific puck luck, Hertl finally broke through to make it a one-goal game. It was his first goal of the postseason and his first goal in more than two months.<\/p>\n
But the Golden Knights were unable to net the equalizer, losing 4-3.<\/p>\n
The Golden Knights were out of sync for much of the night and didn\u2019t seem to find another gear until late in the third period. They still managed to make it a game with the 6-on-5 goal, but the Ducks played with more urgency.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The Ducks] came out desperate,\u201d Brayden McNabb said. \u201cI thought we played a decent game. We had some looks and we didn\u2019t cash in, so we\u2019ll move on.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a more physical and contested playoff battle, and the home team had to win this game. For the Golden Knights, taking a 3-1 lead in the series with a chance to close it out on home ice would have been nice, but it wasn\u2019t crucial.<\/p>\n
The Ducks found a way to make it work on the power play, and that changed the game.<\/p>\n
Anaheim went 2-for-4 after going a combined 0-for-11 in the first three games. The Ducks never trailed, took advantage of Vegas\u2019 self-inflicted mistakes and made the plays they needed to make.<\/p>\n
Vegas\u2019 penalty kill\u2019s impressive streak came to an end, but that doesn\u2019t mean the penalty kill is at fault.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just felt that when we did take the penalties, we had some momentum,\u201d Tortorella said. \u201cThen we take a penalty, and they scored on a couple. We\u2019ve been killing them off, and they scored on a couple. It\u2019s a big part of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Special teams played a pivotal role, but as McNabb said, it\u2019s impossible to be perfect every night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we just gotta be a little more disciplined,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Colton Sissons said he sees no reason for the Golden Knights to lose any sleep over it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been pretty damn good for quite a while here, so sometimes bounces will go that way,\u201d Sissons said. \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t shake our confidence as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, the Ducks deserve credit for making the necessary adjustments and being more aggressive with a shoot-first mentality on the man-advantage.<\/p>\n
Goaltending wasn\u2019t particularly impressive on either side, though it was Hart\u2019s worst game of the series.<\/p>\n
Lukas Dostal got the nod after being pulled in Game 3; he finished the game with 21 saves on 23 shots and the all-important win. Hart yielded four goals on 23 shots for an .826 save percentage after giving up just five total goals in the first three games.<\/p>\n
But for Tortorella, the game changed on Anaheim\u2019s goal late in the second period, which made it 3-2.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the biggest part of the game was I think we need to get out of the second period 2-2,\u201d he said. \u201cThat gave [Anaheim] some life, and they score their fourth goal and they\u2019re just filling the neutral zone and just stacking it. I thought that was the most important part of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
It certainly turned the tide, and the Ducks capitalized on the momentum early in the third. The Golden Knights needed to match that intensity, but they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting down a couple goals is always tough to come back,\u201d Sissons said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s nothing new to the Golden Knights, who struggled with multi-goal deficits all year, but the team\u2019s response was too little, too late.<\/p>\n
That being said, there were some bright spots in the loss.<\/p>\n
Marner delivered another strong performance, recording three assists and a plus-one rating with two shots in 24:08, which led all forwards. He was second on the team in total ice time, trailing only Shea Theodore (24:50). Marner has seven points in his last two games and has recorded multi-point performances in four of his last five games. He now leads the entire league with 16 points in the postseason.<\/p>\n
Also, the fact that Hertl scored his first goal since March 4 could be significant. In reality, the Golden Knights need it to be significant, especially given the absence of Stone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully it just releases him a little bit,\u201d Tortorella said about Hertl\u2019s goal. \u201cHe\u2019s been close for quite a while. He bangs one in, so hopefully that\u2019ll help him moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tortorella said that Hertl is even more important now that the lines have shifted due to Stone\u2019s injury.<\/p>\n
When discussing the third line, specifically, Tortorella singled out Hertl, referencing his role on the power play and his faceoff ability.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the one that I think needs to kick in here, and hopefully him scoring a goal is gonna help him,\u201d Tortorella said.<\/p>\n
If the captain is out long-term, that would be a massive blow to the Golden Knights. Tortorella has yet to provide an update on Stone\u2019s condition, so it\u2019s difficult to assess how serious the situation is.<\/p>\n
\u201cStoney\u2019s a big part of our team,\u201d Tortorella said. \u201cWe miss him, period, as far as his presence and as far as his play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stone\u2019s significance to this team was crystal-clear during the regular season, where Vegas went 31-17-12 (.677) with Stone in the lineup and 8-9-5 (.477) without him. Not having his skill, leadership and energy in the lineup hurts the depth, the power play and the team as a whole. His absence cannot be minimized.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always tough losing your captain,\u201d Sissons said. \u201cWe\u2019re all just gonna have to step up. It\u2019s what good teams do. Obviously, we miss Stoney, but we\u2019ve got a lot of good leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Golden Knights do have plenty of leadership, though Stone brings something different to the table. Even so, Vegas has no choice but to pick up the slack.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s what makes Hertl\u2019s goal that much more timely.<\/p>\n
Even Hertl at his best is no replacement for Stone, but having him operating even at 50 percent would go a long way towards filling the gap offensively, especially on the power play. It was Hertl who supercharged the Vegas power play last year, and it would do wonders for Vegas\u2019 production and depth if Hertl could become a true scoring threat once more.<\/p>\n
But there is one leader on the team who is not being utilized.<\/p>\n
Even though Saad hit the crossbar, and even though Karlsson has moved up to play with Marner and Howden, the elephant in the room is Reilly Smith serving as a healthy scratch. Tortorella may not be familiar with the history, but Smith needs to be in the lineup for Game 5.<\/p>\n
The fact that Saad played a team-low 7:20 while Keegan Kolesar played just 8:22 demonstrates that Tortorella is not comfortable with either player. That would not be the case with Smith, who is a responsible and experienced player, an asset on both sides of the puck and a valuable leader on and off the ice. There is no reason why Smith should be watching the game from upstairs, particularly given his clutch track record in a Vegas sweater. It\u2019s time for him to return to action.<\/p>\n
Regardless of Tortorella\u2019s decisions ahead of Game 5 \u2014 which is set for Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN \u2014 the Vegas bench boss\u2019 confidence in the team remains steadfast.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have zero worry about this team as far as how we\u2019re gonna go about the next few games here, wherever it goes to,\u201d Tortorella said. \u201cI have total trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Photo courtesy of the Golden Knights<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Vegas Golden Knights were on the losing end of a 4-3 contest against the Anaheim Ducks when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-310400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310400","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=310400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}