Ducks-Golden Knights Series Preview

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks have moved on to Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and will face the Vegas Golden Knights. Game 1 will be Monday May 4th in Las Vegas at 6:30PM. For the full schedule visit: Round 2 Ducks vs Golden Knights.

Regular Season Series

These two teams met three times during the regular season with Anaheim winning all three contests. The Ducks won all three contests by a 4-3 final. The first two games the Ducks won 4-3 in overtime and then they won the final meeting 4-3 in regulation.

In the first meeting the Ducks built a 3-1 lead after two periods. Frank Vatrano scored in the first period and Leo Carlsson scored twice in the second period. The Golden Knights tied the game in the third period with goals from Pavel Dorofeyev and Kaedan Korczak. Jacob Trouba scored in the final minute of overtime to give Anaheim the victory.

The second meeting also ended in a 3-3 regulation tie. This game saw most of the scoring in the first period as the teams combined for five goals and Vegas had a 3-2 lead. Troy Terry scored in the second period to tie the game and there was no scoring in third period. Cutter Gauthier scored this time in overtime to win it for Anaheim.

In the final regular season meeting Chris Kreider scored twice and Cutter Gauthier score once to make it 3-0 Anaheim after two periods. Vegas fought back in the third period scoring twice, but Ryan Poehling scored an empty netter to put the game out of reach. Vegas did score in the final seconds of the game to make it a 4-3 final. The Ducks swept the season series against the Golden Knights, but each game was close and extremely competitive.

Round 1 Team Comparisons 

This series comes down to a battle of two teams who were known for their comeback abilities. Both teams played better in their contests as the games went on. One key to this series is who will be able to get off to a better start in the first period.

The Ducks goal scoring leaders in the playoffs are Ryan Poehling and Cutter Gauthier both with four goals. For Vegas Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden both had four goals. Anaheim’s point leader was Jackson LaCombe and for Vegas it was Jack Eichel. Both had nine totals points (1 G + 8 A). Both have balanced scoring as Anaheim had seven players with two or more goals and Vegas had nine players with two or more goals.

Another key in this series will be the special teams. The Ducks were very effective on the power play scoring 50% of the time during their man advantages in their series against the Oilers. The Golden Knights very suffocating on the penalty kill as they posted an outstanding 93.8% efficiency rate. If Vegas can slow down the Anaheim power play, then they greatly improve their chances to move on to the next round.

In between the pipes, the Ducks will again turn to Lukas Dostal, who wasn’t spectacular in the series against the Oilers. He posted a 3.87 GAA and .874 SV%. He was pulled in the first period of Game 5 when Edmonton dropped three goals on him. It hasn’t all been his fault as the defense had some lapses especially in the first periods against Edmonton. Carter Hart will get the nod for Vegas posting a 2.27 GAA and .898 SV%. He posted better numbers, but he faced a Utah team which doesn’t have as much offensive fire power like Anaheim.

So who will win this series? Listen to our podcast for our predictions!

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May 3rd, 2026