Takeaways from the Ducks 3-1 Loss to the Golden Knights, Vegas Leads Series 1-0
A controversial officiating decision spoiled a dominant defensive performance in Vegas, overshadowing Lukas Dostal’s steady play as Anaheim stares down an early deficit against the relentless Golden Knights.
For the first time since 2017, the Anaheim Ducks are through to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With a tall task ahead of them, they traveled to Las Vegas to open up their best-of-seven series against the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday. The Ducks bested the Edmonton Oilers in six games, finishing on home ice on Thursday.
A day later, the Knights wrapped up their series against the Utah Mammoth and immediately turned their sights on the Ducks. Belief, Short Memory Can Help Ducks Beat Golden Knights 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round 2, Game 1 - Ducks vs. Golden Knights Gameday Preview (05/04/26) Vegas got a surprise addition for Game 1 of this series and regained the services of middle-six center and former Ducks prospect William Karlsson.
Karlsson slotted in on Vegas’ listed third line, between Tomas Hertl and Keegan Kolesar. Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville elected to deploy the same lineup that earned his club their Game 6 victory on Thursday. Here’s how the Ducks lined up in this one: Kreider-Carlsson-Terry Killorn-Granlund-Sennecke Gauthier-Poehling-McTavish Viel-Washe-Moore LaCombe-Trouba Mintyukov-Carlson Hinds-Helleson Lukas Dostal got the start for the Ducks, as he had in every first-round game.
He saved 19 of 21 shots. In Vegas’ crease, Carter Hart got the nod and stopped 33 of 34. Game Notes The Ducks got out to perhaps their very best start of the postseason and played their best 60-minute, 200-foot defensive game in recent memory.
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