標籤: Anaheim

The Anaheim Ducks’ season ended with a 5-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the Western Conference Second Round on Thursday night at Honda Center. Vegas won the series 4–2 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

Vegas has now reached the conference finals for the fifth time in nine seasons, a reminder of how quickly that organization has racked up playoff weight. For Anaheim, it was the end of its first postseason run since 2018.

There were just 62 seconds left in the game when Mitch Marner scored on a breakaway to give Vegas a 1–0 lead. William Karlsson sent him through with a long pass and Marner beat Lucas Dostal with a superb finish. Fast start. Bad sign.

CBS Sports reported that Marner played a role in all three of Vegas’ goals in the first period, and that the first period push largely shaped the night. Anaheim wasn’t saddled with a single bad rebound. It took three hits before Duck could regain his footing.

Brett Howden scored short-handed at 8:30 of the first period after taking a feed from Marner. This made the score 2-0 and made it doubly sad for Ducks fans because the team was on the power play.

NHL.com said Howden’s goal was his third short-handed goal of the playoffs, breaking the NHL record for most scored in a playoff game.

Shea Theodore made it 3-0 with 2:41 left in the opening period. Tomas Hertl won the offensive zone draw against Theodore and he beat Dostal with a wrist shot from the blue line.

Granlund gives a little life to Anaheim

Mikael Granlund cut the lead to 3-1 with 7:14 left in the second period. This gave some hope to the team and fans.

Carter Hart stopped 31 of 32 shots, showing that the Ducks put enough pucks on net to make the game interesting, but not enough of them turned into real damage.

Any hopes ended in the third period as Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice. His first shot came just under three minutes into the frame after Ivan Barbashev forced a turnover and set him up in the right circle. His second came with 6:28 remaining, making the score 5–1.

A tough ending, but not an empty one

Vegas now travels to Colorado for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday, May 20. Anaheim is entering the offseason after a playoff run that ended hard, but he still showed growth.

From a Ducks fan’s perspective, it stings because the series had potential. Anaheim won Game 2. This was answered in Game 4. It forced overtime in Game 5. Then came Game 6, and Vegas looked like the older, faster team.

The ducks are here now. They’re closer than ever and being years away from the postseason, it still means something.

The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena, taking a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven second-round playoff series.

Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice, including the winner four minutes into overtime.

Beckett Seneke scored on the power play with 7:24 left in the first period to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead. Less than four minutes later, Dorofeyev responded with a Vegas power-play goal, firing past Lucas Dostal from the high slot after Tomas Hertl’s earlier chance was blocked wide.

The second period remained scoreless.

At 4:48 of the third period, Hertl gave the Golden Knights their first lead of the night. Rasmus Andersson sent the puck toward the net, and Hertl found the loose puck before beating Dostal in the five-hole for a 2–1 Vegas lead.

This is sad for Ducks fans. Not because Anaheim was running out of rinks, but because the team was so in.

Zellweger gives Ducks a late chance

Olen Zellweger tied it 2–2 with 3:05 remaining in regulation, sending the game into overtime and giving Anaheim a real chance to steal Game 5. The Ducks have already shown that they can provide answers in this series. Game 4 proved that. This was another chance to put the pressure back on Vegas.

However, Dorofeyev won it in overtime after Jack Eichel kept the puck alive in the offensive zone. Eichel passed it to Dorofeyev, who took a bounce off Dostal’s pads and put the puck into the net for a 3-2 Vegas win.

NHL.com reports that Dorofeyev now has a career-high seven goals this postseason, while Eichel picked up his 14th assist in the playoffs. According to the same report, Eichel leads the league with six assists on game-tying goals this postseason.

Carter Hart stopped 34 of 36 shots and finished with a .944 save percentage, which tells you Anaheim had enough chances to win this game.

Game 6 gets simpler

Anaheim now goes home for Game 6 at Honda Center on Thursday, May 14. Vegas holds a 3-2 lead in the series, and the Ducks no longer have room for soft periods, loose innings, or missed chances on the man advantage.

From the Ducks fan side, Game 5 was brutal because it was winnable. Seneca scored. Zellweger arrived late. Anaheim shot 36 shots at Hart. Still, Vegas got the last surge, the last finish, and the series lead.

The Anaheim Ducks defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in Game 4 at Honda Center on Sunday night, tying the Western Conference Second Round series 2-2.

Cutter Gauthier had three assists, and the Ducks finally got a power play when they needed it most.

Beckett Seneca, Alex Killorn, Mikael Granlund and Ian Moore scored for Anaheim. Lucas Dostal made 18 saves, and the Ducks improved to 4–0 in these playoff losses.

Anaheim finally gets the man right

Anaheim went to the power play in the first period and Seneca scored past Carter Hart at 8:43 to make the score 1–0.

Seneca continues to advance in these playoffs. NHL.com reported that he joined Bobby Ryan as the only rookies in Ducks history to score in three consecutive playoff games. For a fan base that has been waiting for young talent to become real stars in the postseason, this is a very strong sign.

Vegas responded immediately. Pavel Dorofeyev equalized at 10:22 after Mitch Marner’s shot went loose near the crease. However, there is no panic from Anaheim. Granlund later put the Ducks ahead 2-1 after changing the direction of his shot and slipping it under Hart.

Killorn’s goal changed the atmosphere

At 17:58 of the second period, Killorn banked the puck in from near the goal line for Anaheim’s second power-play goal of the night. This was the play that seemed most impressive. Vegas had tied the game on a goal by Brett Howden early in the period, and Anaheim needed a clean response before halftime.

Reuters reported that the Ducks were 0-for-11 on the power play in the series before breaking twice in Game 4. That’s no small change, it’s the kind of detail that can swing a series, especially against a Vegas team that doesn’t typically allow many second chances.

Ian Moore made a major contribution

Moore made it 4-2 at 3:43 of the third period with the goal-winner. Moore has played well in the last two games, which makes this moment even better. Not every playoff hero comes with the spotlight already on him.

Vegas continued to push late in the game. Tomas Hertl cut the lead to 4–3 with 1:04 remaining after the Golden Knights pulled Hart for an extra attacker. Marner finished with three assists, and after the game he had an NHL-leading 16 playoff points.

For Ducks fans, this was one of those games that gave hope for the rest of the series. The power play woke up, the kids contributed to it and the veterans helped stabilize it. Now it’s one of the best three, and Anaheim has made this series very lively.

Game 5 is on Tuesday, May 12 in Las Vegas and Game 6 is on Thursday, May 14 in Anaheim.