VIDEO: Ducks Earn First Victory At Home Against The Golden Knights

By Kyle Miller

Four different Ducks players tallied a goal on Friday night in the Ducks 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. The win marks the first time that Anaheim has bested their division rivals at the Honda Center.

The first period of play showcased a lot of close scoring opportunities for both sides, but neither was able to convert in the opening frame.

Jonathan Marchessault broke open the deadlock with a hard wrister that zipped past John Gibson and gave the Knights a 1-0 lead. Adam Henrique evened the score at 1 less than five minutes later, as a result of a two-man-advantage for the Ducks. Henrique buried a one-timer that found its way through the open five-hole of Vegas goaltender Malcolm Subban.

Podcast: The Anaheim Gulls

Cam Fowler added a goal of his own on the extended power-play opportunity. A deflection off the knee of Deryk Engelland floated into the net giving the Ducks their first lead of the night. Max Comtois capped off the flurry of goals with a deflection off the shot by Jacob Larsson. The quick succession of goals flipped a 1-0 Knights lead to a 3-1 Ducks lead in the span of 1:37.

Devin Shore added a fourth goal at the mid-way point in the third period; giving the Ducks a three-goal lead. The Golden Knights responded with two late goals by Nate Schmidt, including one with 5.7 seconds left. Vegas did manage to pull within one goal but ultimately failed to even the game.

Analysis

Anaheim’s power play was the difference in this game. The Ducks were able to convert on two of three opportunities, which made all the difference in what ended up being a fairly close contest.

Anaheim’s power play looked anemic during the first three months of this season. Now, this Ducks power play is starting to heat up. In the month of December, the Ducks have converted on 26.4 percent of their chances with the extra man.

In addition, getting traffic in front of the net seems to be key for this offense to generate more goals, and should be paramount to the gameplan for Dallas Eakin going forward.

Notes

The Ducks are now 2-7-1 against Vegas all-time.

This was the first time the Ducks beat the Golden Knights at Honda Center.

Ryan Getzlaf and Jakob Silfverberg returned to the lineup after missing the previous game due to illness.

Ducks prospect Trevor Zegras tallied four assists in the World Junior Championship in the Czech Republic.

Up Next

The Ducks cap off a short homestand against the Flyers on Sunday afternoon at Honda Center at 5:30 PM.

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December 28th, 2019