Depleted Golden Knights Lineup Defeats Anaheim Ducks 4-1

A depleted Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 Saturday Night at T-Mobile Arena.

The Golden Knights were without William Carrier, Alex Pietrangelo, Zach Whitecloud, and Alec Martinez due to injury. Brett Howden served the final game of his two-game suspension.

The Ducks weathered an early storm by the Golden Knights. Sam Carrick hit Brayden McNabb with an elbow and received a five-minute major as a result. That is until Jack Eichel decided to take matters into his own hands. Eichel took the puck from the Golden Knights’ blue line and beat three Ducks players. Goaltender John Gibson was unable to get his left pad over in time and Eichel scored with just 1.3 seconds remaining.

Keegan Kolesar made Carrick answer the bell early in the second period for his elbow on McNabb. Kolesar connected on a number of punches and easily won the bout. Chandler Stephenson and Paul Cotter executed a two-on-one to near perfection to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead.

The third period started with the teams trading a number of penalties for the first 10 minutes. Both teams had three players in the penalty box at various points. Shea Theodore scored off a one-timer on the power play. Mason McTavish answered moments later off a rebound that Hill sent to the slot. Jonas Rondbjerg finished off the scoring with an empty net goal.

This is a new Anaheim Ducks team. They had a large number of hits on Golden Knights players that sent them down to the ice. We will wait and see if this was just opening night adrenaline for the Ducks players or if this is how they will play all season.

This was a good win for the Golden Knights. They controlled most of the game despite being down five regulars in the lineup.

Next up is a big test for the Golden Knights. They take on the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena.