The Anaheim Ducks opened their regular season by building a four-goal advantage and holding off the Vegas Golden Knights for a 4-3 victory Friday at T-Mobile Arena. Leo Carlsson factored into two of the early tallies to guide Anaheim through a late push by the hosts.
Beckett Sennecke started the scoring with eight seconds remaining in the first period, converting a wrist shot off assists from Carlsson and Tristan Luneau. The Ducks quickly expanded their lead early in the second period with two goals in less than a minute. Alex Killorn tipped in a shot at 1:33, and Jeff Malott scored on a deflection at 2:28 to make it 3-0. Carlsson pushed the lead to 4-0 at 7:03 of the second frame when he beat Carter Hart with a snap shot.
Vegas responded with three goals in the third period to cut into the deficit. Shea Theodore began the rally at 4:38 with an even-strength snap shot. Tomas Hertl added a power-play goal at 6:07, and Braeden Bowman scored on a wrist shot at 17:10 to pull the Golden Knights within one, but Anaheim prevented the equalizer over the final minutes.
Lukas Dostal earned the win for the Ducks by stopping 27 of 30 shots, while Hart made 16 saves on 20 shots in the loss. Vegas converted 1 of 3 opportunities on the power play, while Anaheim finished 0 for 2 with the man advantage.
The victory moved Anaheim to 1-0-0 on the season and gave them the win in the first meeting between the teams this year. The Golden Knights dropped to 1-1-0 following the loss.
Anaheim next plays on the road against the New York Rangers on Monday, October 19. Vegas remains at home to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, October 20.
