{"id":319637,"date":"2026-05-17T04:23:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T04:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/319637\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T04:23:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T04:23:23","slug":"vegas-golden-knights-use-stanley-cup-playoff-experience-to-eliminate-anaheim-ducks-ed-graney-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/319637\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegas Golden Knights use Stanley Cup playoff experience to eliminate Anaheim Ducks | Ed Graney | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 Brett Howden had a game plan: That his Vegas Golden Knights<\/a> team start so fast against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night, doubt would creep into the minds of the hosts.<\/p>\n

That the Knights would jump on top of the Ducks from the opening puck drop and be so dialed in, things would fall just as Howden\u2019s side hoped.<\/p>\n

And they did.<\/p>\n

And for it, they move on to the toughest of obstacles.<\/p>\n

This is where all that experience talk turns into reality for the Knights. Close-out games. An opportunity to send a team home and advance on. This is what they mean about a veteran room.<\/p>\n

The Knights have done it again, eliminating the Ducks in Game 6 of a best-of-seven series at Honda Center.<\/p>\n

The final was 5-1.<\/a> Not sure it was that close for large parts of the game.<\/p>\n

It was 3-0 after 20 minutes. Yes. Doubt crept in.<\/p>\n

The script<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to score first, especially being on the road,\u201d Knights defenseman Shea Theodore said. \u201cTry and quiet the crowd. I thought we played great, and that\u2019s what we had to do. We had the right mindset coming in. Guys wanted to work and get the job done. It was good to see the result.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a script followed by Vegas much the same way as a first-round series against Utah, beating the other guys in overtime of Game 5 and then for the most part controlling Game 6.<\/p>\n

Things now get a whole lot tougher.<\/p>\n

Vegas advances to the Western Conference final against Colorado, the league\u2019s best team, in a series that begins Wednesday night in Denver.<\/p>\n

Knights coach John Tortorella said beforehand he didn\u2019t look at things as closing out a series. He just wanted the Knights to be better than they were in Game 5 and then see where things fell.<\/p>\n

They couldn\u2019t have been any hotter to start.<\/p>\n

You won\u2019t see a sweeter goal than the one Mitch Marner<\/a> pulled off just 1:02 into the game. The score, which had more forehands and backhands than you can count and even a nifty between-the-legs move, was made possible by a terrific stretch pass from William Karlsson.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The goal) was so sick,\u201d Theodore said. \u201cBut that\u2019s (Marner). He\u2019s so good on his edges and finding different ways to get things done.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is another example of why Tortorella called the narrative around Marner\u2019s inability to produce in the playoffs, well, an expletive.<\/p>\n

Marner might have gained such a reputation when in Toronto, but he has been one of the best in the NHL these playoffs. He leads the league in scoring this postseason.<\/p>\n

Howden has also been terrific, having tied an NHL record with his third short-handed goal in the first period off a pass from \u2014 who else? \u2014 Marner.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about will, about chipping out some things that might be hurting you,\u201d Tortorella said in his pregame remarks. \u201cI always think it comes down to a big play or a big save or a big momentum swing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tortorella chose not to speak afterward with no explanation given.<\/p>\n

The Knights sprinted to that early 3-0 advantage, one that included a power-play goal from Theodore.<\/p>\n

He might be playing the best hockey of his Vegas career and the Knights needed it these last two wins without defenseman Brayden McNabb, ejected three minutes into Game 5 for a major penalty and then suspended for Game 6.<\/p>\n

Theodore, who began his NHL tenure with the Ducks, has been making a difference at both ends of the ice. His puck movement. His positioning. His experience. His vision. How smoothly he moves from one end to the next.<\/p>\n

Here comes Avalanche<\/p>\n

But now comes Colorado, the first time in these playoffs Vegas will be an underdog. And it will be a decisive one.<\/p>\n

And it should be.<\/p>\n

The Avalanche have been at a different level this season and especially these playoffs.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t tell a team as seasoned as the Knights it has no chance. Don\u2019t suggest something is over before it begins.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of pride in that room.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see if it can pull off something special.<\/p>\n

It sure has proved thus far it can close out a series if given the opportunity.<\/p>\n

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com.<\/a> Follow @edgraney<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 Brett Howden had a game plan: That his Vegas Golden Knights team start so fast…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-319637","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\/319637","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=319637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}