The Vegas Golden Knights secured their fourth consecutive win for the second time this month when they defeated the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 Monday night at T-Mobile Arena.
After falling behind 1-0 in five straight games, the Golden Knights never trailed against the Ducks as they completed the sweep of the four-game season series against Anaheim.
It was a much better start overall for the Golden Knights, who have struggled out of the gate in recent contests.
Ducks netminder John Gibson was knocked out of the game late in the first period after taking a stick to the eye. Lukas Dostal replaced him with 2:28 remaining in the first but was unable to keep Vegas off the board for long.
Tanner Pearson gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 19:19 with a shorthanded tally after Dostal shut down Keegan Kolesar’s breakaway. Kolesar then forced a turnover along the boards before finding the streaking Pearson, who netted his sixth goal of the year.
The most memorable highlight of the second period came on a dump-in gone wrong, as Adin Hill was forced to make a wild save after the puck took a crazy bounce off the linesman’s skate and headed straight for the net. Hill’s diving effort allowed him to get a glove on the puck, but he got some help from Ducks rookie Leo Carlsson, who then lifted the puck over the empty net.
The Golden Knights have been perfect with the two-man advantage this season but were unable to convert on an abbreviated 5-on-3 later in the period.
In the end, neither team was able to light the lamp in the second. It wasn’t a great period for the Golden Knights, but Vegas held a 22-14 edge in shots through 40 minutes and took a one-goal lead into the second intermission.
Anaheim erased that lead in the first 73 seconds of the final frame.
Radio Gudas drove to the net and set up Mason McTavish, who drew Hill out of position before scoring on the empty net to make it a 1-1 game.
Midway through the period, Tomas Hertl scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal on a play similar to William Karlsson’s goal from Saturday’s game against Seattle. This time, Jack Eichel made a great play to get the puck to the net, connecting with the cutting Hertl for the redirect.
Kolesar’s excellent start to the season continued as he gave Vegas a two-goal lead with 4:10 remaining. William Karlsson made a fantastic play to delay before firing a pass to Kolesar for the backdoor one-timer. Kolesar’s ninth of the season set a new career high for the 27-year-old.
The Golden Knights held on to the two-goal lead to close out the 3-1 win.
The win was Hill’s 50th with the Golden Knights; he was excellent once again, making 30 saves on 31 shots for a .969 save percentage.
The victory also marked Bruce Cassidy’s 119th win as the Vegas bench boss, moving him into first place in regular-season wins in franchise history.
It was another impressive showing by Kolesar, who continues to excel with an increased role this season. The Kolesar, Karlsson and Hertl line was fantastic, managing a 17-4 lead in Corsi, an 8-1 edge in shots and an 80.56 percent expected goal share in 9:37.
Like Saturday’s game against Seattle, the Golden Knights struggled with discipline, as Vegas took four penalties for the second game in a row.
That being said, the difference between the penalty kill in the two games was night and day. After giving up two power-play goals to the Kraken, Vegas completely shut down Anaheim’s power play and scored a shorthanded goal. Though the Golden Knights went 0-for-3 on the power play, they won the special teams battle and cleaned up the primary flaw in Saturday’s performance.
Vegas was fortunate on a few occasions, as the Ducks failed to capitalize on several empty nets. However, it was a solid effort by the Golden Knights, who wrap up a 12-2-1 stretch with an 8-1-0 record this month.
The Golden Knights now hold the best points percentage (.721) in the NHL and head into the holiday break with a 23-8-3 record, including a 14-3-0 mark on home ice.
Vegas will be back in action Friday against San Jose.