The young Anaheim Ducks are proving they’re made of sturdy stuff.
The Ducks levelled their series with the Vegas Golden Knights thanks to a 4-3, Game 4 victory at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Sunday night.
Coming off an atrocious effort in Game 3, when Vegas blew Anaheim out of its own rink with a 6-2 victory, the Ducks proved resilient. A power play that had gone dormant in Round 2 suddenly found some life, while coach Joel Quenneville pulled the right lineup levers by putting three guys — centre Mason McTavish and D-men Olen Zellweger and Ian Moore — back in the mix after they had been healthy scratches.
Moore rewarded his bench boss by blasting his first career playoff goal 3:43 into the third period for what proved to be the game-winning strike.
It was a huge response from the young Ducks, who showed they’re more than ready to stay in this second-round fight.
“I just think there was a lot of urgency,” Anaheim winger Alex Killorn said on the broadcast after the final buzzer. “You never want to go down 3-1 in a series and you don’t want to lose two games at home, especially with this crowd.”
Anaheim power play comes alive
Anaheim was deadly with the man advantage in Round 1, going 8-for-16 on the power play during a six-game victory over the Edmonton Oilers. But that part of the Ducks’ game had gone dark against Vegas, as the team went 0-for-11 through the first three games of the series.
Game 4 was a different story, however.
Anaheim opened the scoring when super-rookie Beckett Sennecke took a pass from Killorn at the top of the right circle and crushed a puck past Vegas goalie Carter Hart less than 10 minutes into the game. The strike marked Sennecke’s third straight contest with a goal, as the third-overall pick from 2024 continues to look like one of the deadliest young players in the game.
The score was tied 2-2 late in the second when the Ducks power play came through again. This time, instead of setting up a goal, Killorn finished the play when he took the puck to the net from deep in the zone and squeezed a puck past Hart.
Sennecke picked up an assist on the play and the kid was once again showing his all-world skill by turning a zone entry into a work of art when he pirouetted away from Vegas forward Brett Howden at the blueline to establish possession inside the Knights zone.
Going 2-for-4 with the man advantage was a huge development for an Anaheim squad that had to get that part of its game firing again.
Most of the attention around the Ducks focuses on the team’s impressive young core, and rightfully so. However, veteran players are also performing very well for this squad and a couple of them shone during the Game 4 victory. Killorn’s tally was his fourth of the playoffs, as the 36-year-old is showing he can still get it done. Another vet, 34-year-old Mikael Granlund, also deposited his fourth of the playoffs, finding the net late in the first period.
And don’t forget about workhorse Jacob Trouba on the back end. The 32-year-old played over 26 minutes for the second time in these playoffs, logging nearly four minutes of short-handed time alone.
On a team dotted with high-end talent, Brett Howden is playing the role of goal-scoring hero for the Knights.
After netting 12 goals in 58 regular-season contests, Howden is tied with Minnesota’s Matt Boldy and Logan Stankoven of the Carolina Hurricanes with seven post-season goals. His strike in Game 4 pulled Vegas even 2-2 in the second period when he drove the net and converted a pass from centre William Karlsson.
Speaking of Karlsson, it’s becoming increasingly apparent how important his return to the lineup is for Vegas. The veteran Swede hadn’t played since early November until drawing back in at the start of this Round 2 set. He did incredible work in the leadup to Howden’s goal, retrieving a puck below the goal line and finding Howden in the slot just before absorbing serious contact from the bruising Trouba.
Surely it can’t be easy for Karlsson returning to high-octane hockey after six months on the sidelines. He looks more comfortable with each passing game, though, and his presence certainly balances out the Vegas lineup.
A direct benefit of having Karlsson back is allowing Mitch Marner to swing back out to his usual position of right wing. Marner, who has been red-hot of late, picked up three more assists in this contest to retake the post-season scoring lead with 16 points.
While the offence is flowing for Marner, one Golden Knight who’s been snake-bitten for months now is Tomas Hertl. The big Czech finally got one in Game 4, snapping a 29-game goalless by getting the 6-on-5 strike for Vegas that made it a one-goal game with 64 seconds left.
It may have ultimately been too little, too late for the Knights, but Hertl will surely be feeling a little lighter in Game 5, when his team tries to regain the upper hand in this tight battle.