The rubbish-time power-play aim didn’t maintain the Anaheim Ducks from claiming a series-tying victory on the highway, their 3-1 win night the second-round bout 1-1, but it surely did maintain the membership from breaking a streak that dates again to Day 1 of the 2024-25 marketing campaign:
However wins are what matter, and Dostal actually earned this one. A goalie battle from the beginning, he and Vegas netminder Carter Hart took turns stumping opposing forwards in what was a powerful exhibiting from each side. Hart shone early, stopping all 13 of Anaheim’s first-period photographs, and was the busier goalie Wednesday evening — he confronted 27 photographs, and stopped 25. The Golden Knights’ offence was gradual to heat up, which meant Dostal was, too — he confronted simply three photographs within the first body. His evening acquired busier as the sport went on, stopping all 11 pucks fired his approach within the second and 7 of eight within the third. He was excellent at even-strength.
Dostal’s Recreation 2 efficiency appears like a win inside the win for Anaheim. The 25-year-old had a shaky begin to his first profession post-season stint — he allowed 4 objectives in every of his first three video games of Spherical 1 in opposition to Edmonton, his series save share coming in at .874. He bounced again from a dismal Recreation 5 exhibiting to place away the Oilers with a 25-save efficiency in Recreation 6, and has been wonderful since. He registered a .905 save share on 21 photographs in Recreation 1 in opposition to Vegas, and on Wednesday evening raised the bar to .955 to win the showdown in opposition to Hart. He’s allowed simply three objectives via two video games, and whereas he didn’t fairly obtain perfection, Wednesday’s exhibiting looks like an indication of extra nice showdowns to come back.
Ducks’ energy play falls quick once more versus Vegas’s stifling PK
By two video games of this second-round series thus far, Vegas has made Anaheim’s elite energy play look lifeless. That’s an enormous storyline early on this series, contemplating simply how closely the Ducks relied on their PP manufacturing in opposition to Edmonton — and simply how steep a drop the unit has skilled since.
After going zero-for-four in Recreation 1 Monday evening, Anaheim had ample alternative to show issues round within the first interval of Wednesday’s contest, which noticed Vegas accumulate eight penalty minutes (together with a four-minute, high-sticking double-minor charged to Eichel) within the first 5 minutes of the opening body.
Even with greater than 90 seconds of five-on-three play, the Ducks couldn’t capitalize. Very like we noticed from Utah in Spherical 1, the Ducks spent almost each second with the person benefit patrolling the perimeter searching for the proper shot. They couldn’t discover it.
Anaheim closed out Wednesday’s win and not using a PP aim, going zero-for-five on the evening to convey their whole to none-for-nine on the series thus far. However their fifth alternative did present some indicators of life — Anaheim clearly acquired the memo to get pucks on internet, and regarded much more just like the squad we noticed final series. One thing to construct on, maybe.
Youth and depth step up for Ducks
Two nights after falling to Vegas in Recreation 1, the Ducks acquired off to a blazing begin in Recreation 2, with Troy Terry launching the membership right into a scoring probability simply six seconds into the matchup in an try to catch Hart on his heels. Hart’s early heroics saved Vegas within the recreation regardless of the Ducks’ barrage of photographs, however Anaheim was clearly intent on setting the tone on this one.
It labored. Anaheim managed to harness its personal speed-forward recreation whereas additionally matching Vegas’s hard-hitting, bodily strategy. Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville rolled out his huge traces early and sometimes, leading to a reasonably sizeable hole between his most- and least-used forwards, however that didn’t cease Beckett Sennecke (11:03 minutes of ice time) and Jansen Harkins (9:44) from making huge impacts. Sennecke was the primary to mild the lamp Wednesday evening, when he took benefit of Vegas’s defensive misplay that noticed him in on their own after Jeffrey Viel served him up the puck from behind the online. Harkins scored an empty-net insurance coverage aim late within the third in his 2026 playoff debut.
These objectives sandwiched Leo Carlsson’s third-period marker that gave Anaheim some respiratory room early within the third.
Are Vegas’s stars going quiet once more?
It was a storyline in Spherical 1 in opposition to Utah, and whereas this second-round series continues to be very younger, it’s arduous to not marvel if it’s taking place once more… As a result of via two video games, we have now but to see a lot of an offensive influence from a few of Vegas’s largest names. Pavel Dorofeyev has simply two photographs to his identify via two video games thus far. He and Eichel have two assists between them. Mitch Marner sealed Monday’s series-opening win with an empty-netter, however was held and not using a level Wednesday on simply two photographs. If not for Eichel and Stone collaborating on Vegas’ power-play marker on the finish of regulation, the Golden Knights would’ve been shut out completely on this one.
Depth has been a serious asset for the skilled membership, however they want their stars to step up in the event that they’re to match the firepower of Anaheim. Would possibly that garbage-time aim have woken them up?
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