Ducks score 3 in 2nd to top Golden Knights
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE | DUCKS 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3
ANAHEIM — Cam Fowler had a goal and an assist while the Anaheim Ducks scored three goals in 1:37 midway through the second period of a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night.
Adam Henrique and Max Comtois also scored and Jakob Silfverberg had two assists during the decisive barrage by the Ducks in both Pacific Division clubs’ first game back from the Christmas break. Anaheim trailed 1-0 before capitalizing on a two-man advantage and the ensuing momentum to match the third-fastest three-goal spree in franchise history.
Devin Shore added a third-period goal and John Gibson made 26 saves for the Ducks, who beat Vegas for just the second time in 10 meetings since the Golden Knights joined the NHL in 2017.
Nate Schmidt had two goals, Jonathan Marchessault also scored and Malcolm Subban stopped 14 shots for the Golden Knights, who had never lost in four previous trips to Honda Center along with their healthy contingent of traveling fans.
Schmidt scored twice in the final 1:52. After snapping his personal 21-game goal drought, the defenseman added his second with 5.7 seconds left — too late to stop first-place Vegas from losing two straight in regulation for the first time since Nov. 25.
After a scoreless first period, William Karlsson took advantage of a defensive mistake and sprung Marchessault for an unimpeded breakaway. His shot slipped barely inside the top corner above Gibson’s glove hand and rattled home for his 13th goal of the season.
The Ducks’ offense awoke
during a two-man advantage for 46 seconds in the second period. Henrique scored late in the 5-on-3 sequence, and Fowler ripped home a power-play goal 83 seconds later.
Just 14 seconds after that, the 20-year-old Comtois made an exceptional play in front of the net to tip a long shot by Jacob Larsson for his sixth career NHL goal.
Shore’s goal gave 100 career points.
NOTES: The Ducks got their two-man advantage when captain Ryan Getzlaf was accidentally high-sticked in the face by Tomas Nosek. Getzlaf is among the roughly 25 remaining NHL players who don’t wear visors, and he went to the dressing room for help with his bloodied him face. He returned later in the period. Visors have been mandatory for new players since the start of the 2013-14 season, but veterans who didn’t wear a visor before the change are allowed to keep them off . ... Rickard Rakell missed his second straight game after incurring an upper-body injury before the break, but both Getzlaf and Silfverberg returned after missing games with apparent cases of the flu . ... The Ducks scored three goals in 51 seconds and three goals in 96 seconds in late 2010. ... The Ducks visit Vegas for a matinee on New Year’s Eve.
UP NEXT
Golden Knights: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.
Ducks: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.