The Golden Knights nearly erased a four-goal deficit with a furious third-period rally, but their comeback fell one goal short in a 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at T-Mobile Arena. Tomas Hertl helped spark the late charge as Vegas turned a potential rout into a dramatic finish.
LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights nearly completed an improbable comeback Friday night, scoring three unanswered goals in the third period before falling 4-3 to the Anaheim Ducks at T-Mobile Arena.
The loss was Vegas’ first under coach Ryan Craig and provided another chapter in a budding Pacific Division rivalry after the teams met in the second round of last season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Beckett Sennecke opened the scoring with eight seconds remaining in the first period, a late-period strike that changed the complexion of a game Vegas had controlled territorially.
Then came the stretch that ultimately decided it.
Alex Killorn scored 1:33 into the second period, and Jeff Malott followed just 55 seconds later to make it 3-0. Leo Carlsson extended Anaheim’s advantage at 7:03, leaving Vegas down four before the game reached its midpoint.
“Probably just the execution,” captain Mark Stone said when asked about the difference between the second and third periods. “Against a team like that, you look at their top players, they’re high-end players. With time and space, and if you turn the puck over or give them that time and space, they make plays, and they did.”
Vegas finally awakened in the third.
Shea Theodore scored at 4:38 before Tomas Hertl converted on the power play at 6:07. Braeden Bowman pulled Vegas within one with 2:50 remaining, transforming what had looked like a one-sided Anaheim victory into a frantic finish.
Stone said the response reflected something that has become part of the Golden Knights’ identity.
“I think you’re never gonna see this team quit, and I think that’s why we’ve had awesome playoff success and regular-season success as a team,” Stone said. “We don’t quit. We continue to push.”
But Stone also acknowledged the obvious lesson from Friday: resiliency can only overcome so much.
“When you get down in a hole 4-0, it’s not gonna come back very often,” Stone said. “It’s early in the season. I like the way we started to build some better habits leading into the next game, especially.”
The Golden Knights continued pressing after pulling Carter Hart for the extra attacker, but Lukas Dostal and the Ducks survived the final push.
Vegas was left with an encouraging third period - and a reminder that even its ability to rally has limitations.
As Stone put it: “It’s doable, but that fourth one is just difficult.”
KEY MOMENT: Anaheim's Third Goal
Anaheim delivered its biggest blow just 55 seconds after Killorn gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead. Malott scored at 2:28 of the second period to suddenly make it 3-0. Vegas eventually found its game, but that rapid-fire sequence left the Golden Knights chasing a deficit that proved one goal too large.
KEY STAT: .800
Hart stopped 16 of the 20 shots he faced. Vegas held a 30-20 advantage in shots and won nearly two-thirds of the faceoffs, but four goals on Anaheim's first 20 shots proved too much to overcome.
WHAT A KNIGHT: Tomas Hertl
Hertl supplied more than Vegas' second goal. He finished with a team-high five shots on goal, went 8-3 in the faceoff circle and posted a plus-1 rating in 17:23 of ice time. His power-play goal at 6:07 of the third cut the deficit to 4-2 and helped turn what looked like a runaway into a frantic finish.
UP NEXT
The Golden Knights head north for their first road game of the season, visiting the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.
PHOTO CAPTION
Vegas Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl (48) scores a goal in the third period against the Anaheim Ducks at T-Mobile Arena.
