Ducks’ struggles continue in 5-4 loss to Golden Knights
Michael Amadio had a goal and two assists in the Vegas Golden Knights’ 5-4 victory over the Ducks on Friday night.
Roy, Amadio and Jonathan Marchessault scored in a four-goal second period for the Knights, who then survived a strong third period from the Ducks to win for just the third time in nine games. Ben Hutton also scored and Laurent Brossoit made 20 saves, while Amadio had his first career three-point game.
“We played aggressive, and when we’re on the forecheck, we’re hard to play against,” said Roy, who hadn’t scored a goal since Jan. 17. “When you start to get some bounces, the confidence comes back, so that was nice to see.”
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Jakob Silfverberg, Nicolas Deslauriers and Trevor Zegras scored for the Ducks, whose mid-game defensive lapses doomed them to their seventh loss in 10 games.
Troy Terry also scored his 28th goal early in the third period to trim Vegas’ lead to one goal, but the Ducks couldn’t close the gap. John Gibson stopped 30 shots for Anaheim, which couldn’t recover from the Knights’ second-period barrage.
“In the first period, we didn’t manage the puck that well,” Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler said. “Seemed like we were a little bit sloppy, like missing each other on the tape and turning it over too many times. Just too many chances against in the second. Just kind of sloppy overall. I liked that we continued to fight and push forward, but there was a lot we left out there.”
Fourth-place Vegas moved five points ahead of fifth-place Anaheim in the Pacific Division standings with a game in hand thanks to this eventful victory at Honda Center.
“Momentum is really important in this game, and it shifted back and forth all night,” Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. “Two desperate teams going at it out there. Hard-fought game.”
Silfverberg put the Ducks up early in the first period with an impossibly sharp-angled shot from the goal line along the boards. Hutton tied it moments later with his first goal since Jan. 8 and his 100th NHL point.
Marchessault put the Knights up 18 seconds into the second period. He scored his third goal in four games on a one-timer from William Karlsson, the Anaheim draft pick traded to Columbus in 2015 in one of the worst moves of former general manager Bob Murray’s tenure in Anaheim.
Deslauriers evened it 2:05 later with the tough forward’s fifth goal of the season, but Roy converted an easy rebound off the boards 86 seconds later.
Roy and Amadio took advantage of defensive lapses by the Ducks to push Vegas’ lead to 5-2 midway through the middle period. Roy’s only previous two-goal game in his five-year NHL career came during the 2021 postseason.
“There is a rhythm to the game, and when you start turning over pucks, it throws everything off and it becomes really frustrating,” Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said. “We just couldn’t get it out.”
Zegras answered with a power-play goal late in the period off an exceptional pass from Rickard Rakell.
Terry walked in for a power play goal early in the third to trim Vegas’ lead to 5-4. The All-Star forward’s 28 goals already are the most scored in a season by a Ducks player since Rakell got 34 four years ago.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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