The Golden Knights saw the revamped Anaheim Ducks for the first time.

They’re fast. They swarm in waves. They’re legit. Their rebuild looks to be well ahead of schedule.

A rare Ducks-Knights matchup where the teams are atop the Pacific Division lived up to the billing with the Knights rallying to force overtime, but losing 4-3 at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night.

The Knights (7-3-4) stormed back from a two-goal deficit in the third period with one of its best frames of the season — outshooting the Ducks 21-6.

Right wing Pavel Dorofeyev scored the Knights’ third power play goal in their last seven games, and defenseman Kaedan Korczak tied it with 5:07 left to earn a point.

“I thought, certainly, a game that I would say we should have had the two points,” coach Bruce Cassidy said.

But Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba received the puck from center Leo Carlsson, got an edge on center Jack Eichel and snuck it past goaltender Akira Schmid with 32 seconds left in the frame to give the Ducks (10-3-1) their sixth straight win.

Left wing Brett Howden scored, and Schmid made 25 saves for the Knights, who dropped to 1-2-1 during their six-game homestand.

“(The Ducks) are playing well, but I think a lot of it’s on us, too,” Howden said.

The Knights had their chances in overtime. Left wing Ivan Barbashev was denied on a breakaway. Center Tomas Hertl, who had a game-high eight shots on goal, made a power move to the inside but was also stopped by goaltender Petr Mrazek.

Mrazek, in his 400th career start, made 36 saves in his first action since Oct. 23 and improved to 3-0 this season. Anaheim plays the second night of a back-to-back Sunday at Winnipeg.

The Ducks took a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes behind two goals from the 20-year-old Carlsson, the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft.

“They look like the real deal,” Cassidy said. “But it’s a six-month season, and that’ll be something we can answer later as it goes along.”

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

1. Second-period woes again

Comparing the last two second periods is apples to oranges. They’re different situations, but they hold similar results.

The Knights were outscored 2-0 in the middle frame for the second straight game and were outshot 12-8. Dating back to Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Knights have been outshot 27-12 and down 4-0 the last two middle frames.

“I don’t know if there’s something specific,” Howden said. “Obviously, we need to be a lot better.”

Tampa Bay got to its game early in the second on Tuesday and matched what the Knights did in the first period, turning a 2-0 score into a tie game after two.

The Knights started strong Saturday with Howden’s goal coming 5:47 in. Ducks right wing Frank Vatrano tied it with 4:11 left.

But Carlsson’s two goals came off poor play on the boards. Carlsson stripped Howden in the Knights’ zone, played give-and-go with right wing Troy Terry and roofed a backhand shot over Schmid at 10:39 to give Anaheim a 2-1 lead.

His second came after forcing a turnover on Dorofeyev along the wall, and Carlsson’s shot deflected off defenseman Zach Whitecloud’s stick to make it 3-1.

“To me, those are two plays that are very similar,” Cassidy said. “In the first period, I thought if we didn’t use our feet, we got ourselves in trouble. And then our board play. If we’re not going to wheel and find an option, usually you go up the wall. That wasn’t good enough early on. The third was much better.”

2. Switching the pairs

Rather than go for a wholesale change up front, Cassidy looked for a spark by changing things on the back end.

Korczak moved up with Noah Hanifin, while Whitecloud skated with Jeremy Lauzon.

Hanifin has been the Knights’ best player since returning to the lineup after missing the previous 10 games with an undisclosed injury. His skating, coupled with Korczak’s willingness to get up in the play, was why the Knights tied it in the third on Korczak’s goal.

It was a switch Cassidy and assistant coach John Stevens discussed, and had been discussing, for about a week.

“I thought it went great. He scored,” Cassidy said.

Korczak is the only defenseman to have found the back of the net this season. He’s been steady in his first full NHL season with three points and a plus-5.

“It’s a little different, for sure,” Korczak said. “(Hanifin) is more up the ice, and I can just kind of read off him and give him the puck.”

3. Karlsson injured

Center William Karlsson left the game prior to the second period with a lower-body injury and is day to day, Cassidy said.

Karlsson played the entire first period and also had the primary assist on Howden’s goal.

The Knights are off Sunday, so Cassidy won’t have an update until Monday when they play the Florida Panthers.

“I’d guess he’s day to day, from what I was told, but I don’t know yet,” Cassidy said. “That’ll be something that’ll be evaluated (Sunday).”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.