The Anaheim Ducks (10-10-3) will play their third game of a four-game homestand on Wednesday night when they host the Vegas Golden Knights (16-7-3).
Takeaways from the Ducks’ 4-3 Shootout Win over the Senators
The Ducks are fresh off a 4-3 shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday, bringing their record back up to .500.
The Golden Knights, sans captain Mark Stone, will play their second game of a back-to-back after defeating the Edmonton Oilers in Vegas on Tuesday by a score of 1-0. Vegas has points in six of their last seven games and sit comfortably atop the Pacific Division standings.
This will be the third of four meetings between Anaheim and Vegas this season. Vegas has won the previous two matchups 3-1 and 3-2, respectively. Their season series finale will come on Dec. 23 in Las Vegas.
Stats
Ivan Barbashev is having a career year with 28 points in 26 games, but in two games against the Ducks this season, he has yet to find the scoresheet. In 24 career games against Anaheim, he has just 10 points.
Jack Eichel is the beating heart of the Golden Knights right now. He has 36 points in 26 games and two assists in two games against Anaheim this season. He has 20 points in 19 career games against the Ducks.
Despite just two career goals on 28 shots (7.1%), Trevor Zegras has 11 points in 13 games against Vegas. He’s been held off the scoresheet in the team’s first two meetings this season, but he has six points in his last six games.
Mason McTavish was injured the last time these teams met and was held scoreless in the first matchup but has five points in seven career games against the Golden Knights.
Troy Terry has seven assists in his last four games. He had a goal in the first meeting between the Ducks and Knights and has 13 points in 22 career games against Vegas.
John Gibson didn’t start either of the Ducks’ first two contests against Vegas. He has a career 6-17-5 record against the Golden Knights with a .904 SV% and one shutout. Overall, this season, he has a 4-1-1 record with a .922 SV% and 4.44 goals saved above expected.
Lukas Dostal lost his last meeting against Vegas on Nov. 13 but stopped 36 of 39 shots in that game. He has a career 1-1-0 record and .944 SV% against the Golden Knights and has a 6-7-3 record with a .921 SV% and 16.24 goals saved above expected this season.
Adin Hill started Tuesday’s game for the Golden Knights against the Oilers, so Ilya Samsonov will likely get the start on Wednesday. Samsonov started the Oct. 13 game between the Ducks and Knights, stopping 22 of 23 shots. He has a 5-3-1 record despite an .892 SV% and -2.48 goals saved above expected this season.
In three career starts against the Ducks, Samsonov is 3-0-0 with a .953 SV% and one shoutout.
The Ducks have an 8-20-5 record against the Golden Knights in the history of the two franchises.
Scouting Report
“It’s an interesting dynamic, we seem to play okay against these guys,” Ducks head coach Greg Cronin said prior to the teams’ previous meeting on Nov. 13. “Their team is driven by their D. Eichel and Barbashev are having really good years, and I’m sure they miss Stone, but their D run everything.”
The Golden Knights are a team that prioritizes building plays off their breakout to generate the majority of their 5v5 offense.
The key for the Ducks in this game will be defensemen acutely timing their pinches and the high F3 forward attentively covering and beating the opposing forwards up ice.
Vegas doesn’t deploy a heavy offensive zone forecheck, electing to enter the offensive zone with possession regardless of back pressure. There is an opportunity there for the Ducks’ neutral zone forecheck to disrupt connectivity and pounce on missed connections for counterattacks the other way.
Vegas’ power play is relatively stationary and runs through Eichel on the left flank. He moves up and down the half-wall in search of optimal lanes for attack, often hitting a released William Karlsson on the goal line.
I love this kind of player movement on the power play. By driving to the net after the dish to the corner, Terry forces the diamond to collapse
Vatrano recognizes and drifts to soft space above from the bumper to create a passing lane#FlyTogether
pic.twitter.com/6o2B7yMyf5— Patrick Present (@PatrickCPresent) December 2, 2024
Their penalty kill is similar to Anaheim’s, opting for an aggressive diamond with length and mobility as their advantage. If the Ducks continue to run the power play through Terry and Ryan Strome on the left flank, deploying give-and-goes, it could collapse their aggressive structure, leaving openings for a released Frank Vatrano (similar to the Ducks’ first goal against Ottawa on Sunday) or a lane to Olen Zellweger at the point.
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