{"id":441129,"date":"2026-02-02T07:29:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T07:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/441129\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T07:29:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T07:29:17","slug":"ducks-fly-past-golden-knights-sweep-season-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/441129\/","title":{"rendered":"Ducks Fly Past Golden Knights, Sweep Season Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Sunday, the Vegas Golden Knights played the second half of a back-to-back on the road against the Anaheim Ducks. Once again, they fell behind by three goals and faced a 3-1 deficit after the second period. This time, they couldn\u2019t summon any late-game magic and fell 4-3 in regulation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the first period, the Golden Knights outshot the Ducks 8-5; however, Anaheim boasted the lion\u2019s share of the scoring chances. The Ducks generated 10 scoring chances while holding Vegas to three, and controlled\u00a073.97%<\/a>\u00a0of the expected goal share.<\/p>\n

The Ducks got on the board at 13:21 in the first. Ben Hutton couldn\u2019t handle Pavel Mintyukov\u2019s dump-in, and Ryan Poehling got to the loose puck. Poehling drove the net and banked a shot off Chris Kreider\u2019s skate and in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Ducks doubled their lead just 1:10 into the second period. Jacob Trouba wristed a shot on net from the point, and Chris Kreier redirected it home for his second of the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three minutes later, Tom\u00e1\u0161 Hertl took a penalty, and the Ducks added to their lead on the ensuing power play. Cutter Gauthier stepped into the right circle and rocketed a shot that beat Adin Hill short-side.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After successfully killing off a penalty, the Golden Knights woke up. They started attacking in waves and outshot the Ducks 7-5 from that point on. Vegas generated four high-danger scoring chances while holding Anaheim to one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Golden Knights finally solved Luk\u00e1\u0161 Dost\u00e1l at 9:47 in the second. From behind the net, Mark Stone tried to thread a pass through four defenders to Mitch Marner. Stone\u2019s attempt hit off Ian Moore and Luk\u00e1\u0161 Dost\u00e1l, but the puck ricocheted to Marner anyway, who slammed it into the empty net.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the third period, it looked like the Golden Knights would pull off yet another miraculous comeback. They outshot the Ducks 18-7 and generated eight high-danger scoring chances while not allowing any.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Golden Knights cut Anaheim\u2019s lead to one at 10:40 in the third. In on the forecheck, Jack Eichel stripped the puck from Jackson LaCombe and threaded a pass through to Ivan Barbashev in front of the net. Luk\u00e1\u0161 Dost\u00e1l stopped the shot, but couldn\u2019t squeeze it, and Barbashev got to the loose puck.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, despite their best efforts, the Golden Knights couldn\u2019t find the equalizer. They pulled Adin Hill for the extra attacker with 1:54 remaining in regulation, but couldn\u2019t score.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Ducks hit the empty net with 1:07 remaining in regulation. Pavel Dorofeyev\u2019s shot went wide, and Jacob Trouba nudged the puck away from Jack Eichel and to Troy Terry, who set up Ryan Poehling for the dagger.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Golden Knights again pulled Hill for the extra attacker and made it a one-goal game with just over five seconds remaining in regulation. Mark Stone found Tom\u00e1\u0161 Hertl all alone atop the goal crease, and Hertl roofed it.<\/p>\n

Down by one, the Golden Knights won the face-off, but didn\u2019t get a shot off in time, and the Ducks held on for a 4-3 win.<\/p>\n

1. Are the tides turning in the Pacific Division?\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the most part, the Golden Knights have historically had their way with the Ducks. They\u2019ve gone a perfect 4-0 in the season series twice. And in 2020-21, Vegas went 7-1 against the Ducks, outscoring them 29-13.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yeah, the Golden Knights are used to having their way with the Ducks. But that\u2019s not happening anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the first time, the Ducks flipped the script and swept the season series against the Golden Knights. Two of those wins came in overtime, but that shouldn\u2019t soften the blow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Golden Knights are supposed to be the big baddie. At the start of the season, they were seen as shoo-ins to hang another \u2018Pacific Division Champion\u2019 banner. More importantly, they looked like one of the few teams strong enough to truly contend for the Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n

But is that still the case? For a long time, it looked like they were going to win the Pacific Division whether they wanted to or not. Now, that\u2019s far from a guarantee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After today\u2019s regulation loss, the Golden Knights are tied with the Edmonton Oilers for first in the Pacific Division. They have a game in hand, but with a 25-16-14 record, that means very little.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because the Pacific Division is so weak, the Golden Knights probably aren\u2019t in any real danger of missing the playoffs\u2026 but they shouldn\u2019t tempt fate too hard. They might not like the results.<\/p>\n

2. Eichel and Marner were men possessed\u2026 but it wasn\u2019t enough<\/p>\n

Last night, the Golden Knights lost 3-2 to the Seattle Kraken. However, from the second period on, Jack Eichel was by far the best player on the ice.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eichel\u2019s efforts carried over to tonight\u2019s game against the Ducks. He finished with four shots and 20:36 TOI. He recorded one assist, but it really should have been more. Eichel made plays all night and was, for the most part, the most dangerous player on the ice.<\/p>\n

But we can\u2019t forget about Mitch Marner. Marner, reunited with Mark Stone and Pavel Dorofeyev, scored a goal and recorded four shots on net. And, yes, his goal was a neatly-wrapped gift from the hockey gods. But that puck luck doesn\u2019t take away from Marner\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

So, Marner and Eichel were excellent. And yet, the Golden Knights lost 4-3 in regulation to a divisional opponent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sure, they faced a talented goaltender\u2013 Luk\u00e1\u0161 Dost\u00e1l was pretty spectacular. The Czech netminder allowed three goals on 31 shots and posted a .903 save percentage. He was great, and those stats would have been even better had Tom\u00e1\u0161 Hertl not scored in garbage time.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s the real issue. The Golden Knights keep falling behind and praying for late-game heroics from their star players. It\u2019ll work sometimes, because Eichel and Marner are world-class players. But some offensive desperation before a three-goal deficit would probably help. <\/p>\n

3. Goaltending isn\u2019t the issue, but it was an issue<\/p>\n

Because he\u2019s the easiest player to blame, the goaltender often absorbs most of the ire from the fans. I usually disagree with that way of thinking because, for the most part, a goaltender is only as good as the team in front of him.<\/p>\n

Adin Hill was not the reason the Golden Knights lost tonight. The first goal happened because Chris Kreider planted himself in front of the net. The second goal looked rough, but Trouba\u2019s shot was going off target before Kreider got his stick on it. Hill made his fair share of big stops, especially in the third period.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tonight was just Hill\u2019s sixth start since returning from an injury, and he\u2019s still working his way back. However, sometimes it comes down to one save\u2013 especially when facing a goalie as good as Luk\u00e1\u0161 Dost\u00e1l.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The third goal, a power-play tally that ultimately proved the dagger, was the real issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn hindsight, that\u2019s the one that hurt us,\u201d said Bruce Cassidy postgame. \u201cIt should have never went in the net. It\u2019s a short side goal that, you know, our kill is designed to help with. The D block the far side, and that\u2019s the save that we needed, at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\"avatar\"<\/p>\n

\t\tHannah Kirkell is a beat writer covering the Vegas Golden Knights for Vegas Hockey Now on Sportsnaut. She studied … More about Hannah Kirkell<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Sunday, the Vegas Golden Knights played the second half of a back-to-back on the road against the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5129],"tags":[1042,233,149,5317,5,1041,533,4,74,39,5316],"class_list":{"0":"post-441129","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vegas-golden-knights","8":"tag-adin-hill","9":"tag-anaheim-ducks","10":"tag-golden-knights","11":"tag-goldenknights","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-jack-eichel","14":"tag-mitch-marner","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-vegas","17":"tag-vegas-golden-knights","18":"tag-vegasgoldenknights"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115999865171419552","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}