Recap: The Golden Knights took control of the game early on when Max Pacioretty deflected in his 22nd goal of the season. Anaheim tied the game 1-1 but Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo regained the lead for Vegas later in the period.
Nic Roy stretched Vegas’ lead to 3-1 with his seventh goal of the year. The Ducks added a second goal to get within one but captain Mark Stone scored a power play goal taking a 4-2 lead into the second intermission.
Alex Tuch sealed the game late with an empty-net goal. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury held the two-goal edge winning his 486th career win.
Vegas’ record improves to 31-11-2 after their 5-2 victory in Anaheim. The Golden Knights head home for the next two games hosting the San Jose Sharks. Tomorrow’s game against San Jose is scheduled for 7 PM PT. (Recap by Jason)
Analysis: The Golden Knights are still a lot better than the Ducks. (Analysis by Ken)
Upcoming stories from the Vegas Golden Knights vs Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center
- A deeper dive into the stats behind the bumslaying
Ken’s Three VGK Stars
*** Nic Roy
** Max Pacioretty
* Mark Stone
The Golden Knights are now 26-5-1 against ANA, ARI, LA, SJS, and STL.
That is a .828 points percentage or 136 points over an 82-game schedule.
The NHL record for highest points percentage is .875 (BOS) in 1929-30. The modern-day record is .825 (MTL) in 1976-77.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) April 18, 2021
What's the best way to defend a 2 goal lead?
Don't allow 2 shots.
(Anaheim have 1 shot 11 minutes into this period.)
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) April 18, 2021
Continuing to love how direct Mattias Janmark plays. Where ever he gets the puck, he's heading straight to the goal. It's refreshing.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) April 18, 2021
Mark Stone embarrassing goalies is the best.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) April 18, 2021
Howard
Man, The Ducks are a putrid NHL Hockey team. All I can really say. I feel badly for Gibson, he’s a good goalie with a piss-poor team in front of him.
DOC (Go Knights Go)
Exactly the game I expected. Getting the 2 pts, all that matters.
Good game by Flurey.
Our goalies, as a tandem, are: FIRST in goals against … First in save%.
This is one big reason why we CAN when the cup, this year!
Hdbiker7851
Doc my man I admire your optimism but they don’t stand a Chinese chance in hell unless they fix the power play. Those are the opportunities that they can’t afford not to capitalize on come play off time. Yes they score one today against one of the poorest pk teams in the NHL. They also had numerous chances today and Friday night where they failed miserably.
Pistol Pete
I’m pretty sure PP is just another area that runs hot and cold in hockey. Of course there can be structural deficiencies however I am not convinced this is the case for the VGK. Hopefully PP gets hot in the postseason which imo is entirely possible. I know, I’m cheerleading lol.
Howard
Without a consistent power play – u won’t win a cup and that’s statistically proven. However, Deboer NEVER makes adjustments so I expect VGK to be out of playoffs in round 1 or 2.
Pistol Pete
He made the finals twice, more than likely enabled by his tinkering. What makes you so sure he won’t make the adjustments he probably made before, only better now due to having more experience and working for a different GM? He makes adjustments all the time from what we can tell.
Pistol Pete
You are definitely right without a productive PP VGK is going to have more trouble getting past MIN and COL to advance to the semifinals. Again, I believe there is the potential for a hot PP in the post season.
Hdbiker7851
Pistol Pete – hot, cold is an illusion. Either you gave a system in place that produces results or you don’t unfortunately Vegas doesn’t otherwise it would not be a point of discussion. It’s not only on this site anyone who understands and watches them comments on the same thing. When competition recognizes there is no issue with getting a penalty they take liberties they normally wouldn’t and this is a dangerous situation for Vegas as this is when injuries happen. Not scoring is bad enough but the consequences of that are potentially far worse.
Daryl
You are exactly right
sb
Problem with the PP IS structural. Don’t have playmaking, puck handling centers to quarterback. Poor at winning O Zone faceoffs. Then there’s the pass back which slows down the entry. Their setup allows for too many players to be in front of the goalie reducing shooting lanes …… all those blocked shots! A real Chinese Fire Drill. The O Zone setup is all wrong. Center should be behind the goal line drawing D-Men to him leaving the Rt and Lt wingers at the faceoff circles ready for one-timers. Two men at the points to draw the PK wingers out which spreads out the ice and opens shooting lanes. Create mismatch of 3 PP vs 2 PK in front of the goalie. Return to conventional set up. It ain’t working. Fix it before the Playoffs. We’ve seen this nightmare in the last two Playoffs. Don’t make this mistake three times.
Daryl
Same reason he didn’t make adjustments during last years playoffs. The reason he didn’t make needed adjustments when he Das work NJD. He said so last year he wasn’t changing anything up.
THE hockey GOD
you mean “snowball’s chance in hell” , I know some chinese that would have a good chance in hell and end up in heaven after all is said and done.
let’s just leave the chinese out of the equation, ok ?
Hdbiker7851
If you like snowball no problem. The issue is the same
THE hockey GOD
snowcone would also work for me, or one of those italian ices with all the bright colors…..
hdbiker7851
A win is win however they can’t close their eyes to the obvious. -The Achilles heel for the VGKs is their anemic PP ,which has the potential to be their death blow for ultimate success. I believe I heard the Ducks are one of the worse PK and the knights had three opportunities Friday and a number today to no avail. As I have stated while not important Friday or today for that matter their man advantage borders on being a disadvantage. Their competition going forward will exploit that as there are no consequences for taking penalties against the knights as the probably of it resulting in a score borders on zero. This guy – PDB’s buddy the PP gru rue is a waist of time and Zero value to the team. Why mgt doesn’t do something about that is truly a mystery as I am certain they are not that near sighted. Glad VGKs won but it wasn’t much competition (being kind). The difference between winning and loosing is small and a single goal from an effective PP makes all the difference.
D
Roy with his fourth goal, not seventh.
Mike StG
Hope you enjoy it though, however short it will be. If they do win the cup what will you do to console yourself?
Pistol Pete
VGK just ahead of MIN but well lagging COL in 2020-2021 PP %:
https://www.covers.com/sport/hockey/nhl/statistics/team-powerplay/2020-2021
VGK better 2019-2020:
https://www.covers.com/sport/hockey/nhl/statistics/team-powerplay/2020-2021
Definitely possible for VGK PP to peak postseason. They have the offensive firepower for it.
hdbiker7851
Pistol Pete – whether you want to believe it or not The Achilles heel of the VGKs is their anemic PP . It very well could be their death blow for ultimate success. Apparently the Ducks are one of the worse PK in the NHL and the knights had opportunities both Friday and today to essentially no avail. Yes they got one in seven tries if I recall . As stated while not important last couple of games they having the man advantage borders on being a disadvantage. Their competition going forward will exploit that as there are no consequences for taking penalties against the knights as the probably of it resulting in a score borders on zero. The guy – PDB buddy, the PP gru rue is a waist of time and Zero value to the team. Why mgt doesn’t do something about that is truly a mystery as I am certain they are not that near sighted. The difference between winning and loosing is small and a single goal from an effective PP makes all the difference.
Pistol Pete
I hear what you are saying hdbiker, I will continue to hold out hope the PP picks up in the playoffs and down the homestretch of the regular season. At least the PK is elite, somewhat of an offset.
Pistol Pete
And, if I was a playing against a team that has been scoring I would probably not want to draw penalties against myself on the assumption a PP that has been a little weak will not go on a run. Playing with fire IMO.
THE hockey GOD
“he guy – PDB buddy, the PP gru rue is a waist of time and Zero value to the team”
players not executing is NOT the coaches’ fault, it’s management fault for giving them a pool of players that can not score on PP.
Besides I feel the VGK were not trying to “run up the score” against the Ducks. The games were pretty pitiful with hardly any checking and both teams were falling down all over the place. The ice was very poor.
We’ll see how they do when they play more competitive players.
N.M.P.L.
It was a great game! I liked it!
DOC (Convict Chauvin)
Do I get pissed, when watching games, that we can’t score more on the PP? Of course! But to now use just that, as the rallying cry by the usual naysayers, that we can’t win the cup because of this! Come on!
We: We are at the top or leading the league in 5 on 5 scoring.
We are at the top of the league in goals against AND save %.
We are near the top in PK.
The PP can only improve and as mentioned can be an up & down sucess. The playoffs may bring out a better PP. Who knows?
We CAN win the cup and as most real fans realize: We have a VERY good team, period!!!
knights fan in minny
the only thing that will make the people happy here in minny is chauvin take himself out they all want to come here to have a better life well george was nothing but trouble
Howard
Sure, VGK can win The Cup, any playoff team can. The % chance of them winning though isn’t in their favor based on their horrid PP.
Getting away with a bad PP against bad teams like The Ducks, u will be ok. A poor PP against MIN or COL will almost certainly equate to an exit from the postseason for VGK, and that’s the point here – percentages/probabilities.
sb
At the Top playing SJ, PHX, Ducks and LA a zillion times. Not the same competition found in the East or Central. Apples and oranges. Washington just got very, very tough by adding Mantha. Best Lines #1 and #2 in hockey. Remember June 2018? Even tougher now.
Danny Gallivan
and tonight we have to endure the bs about marleau. He could not carry Gordie Howe’s jockstrap. Mr Hockey vs Mr Nobody
Howe’s professional totals, including playoffs, for the NHL and WHA combined, were first. He finished with 2,421 games played, 1,071 goals, 1,518 assists, and 2,589 points.
Howe=4 Stanley cups, and 2 WHA championships….. Marleau= NONE
Howe 6 times NHL MVP….. marleau=NONE
Howe= 6 times NHL leading scorer, 21 consecutive years was top ten in scoring….marleau=fat chance
Howe= Superstar
the other guy= who?
Howe
sb
And Howe! An embarrassing night. Marleau who?
Tim
Not sure why but were not very successful on the Power Play and I’d say it’s a fair assumption that with the lack of an effective one it could be our downfall. When your on either a PP or PK your out of rhythm with your normal 5 on 5 lines so not scoring on the PP or taking stupid penalties causes problems.
PP
the PP is weak because they are not one-timing the shots. most of the top nhl PP units use the one timer as their main weapon on the PP, like Wash, Tampa etc
the opponent defenders and goalie have plenty of time to move into position to block shots when the pass receiver first has to control the puck, then turn his body, and then release a wrist shot.
the Knights used to have Pacioretty one-timing the shot from the right circle, but for some reason, they moved him over to the left circle, where he shoots wristers after gaining control of the pass.
should be 27 on top, 67 in right circle for one-timers, Stone in the left circle for passes or one-timers, Karlsson on the goal line, and Tuch net front screening the goalie, or occasionally sliding out to the low slot to one time a quick Karlsson pass, a la Backstrom to Oshie.
Mike StG
PP, they moved Max to the left to facilitate the seam pass esp when entering the zone, and to spread the defense and create some space in the middle. It also makes for better movement, which they were lacking. Too much standing around and Max’s one timer from the right was getting too predictable. He’s got a wicked wrister so being on the left gives him the choice of the shot or the seam pass if it opens up. If Glass could improve his 5v5 play he’d be on the roster and could add some creative passing from behind the net as well.
sb
Yep. Too much standing around. Predictable. Defenders OK with just letting the PP guys skate north/south, up and down the boards not facing the goalie. The PP is a Chinese Fire Drill …………. opppps, not PC. So sorry, Charlie.
DOC (Convict Chauvin)
I haven’t heard anyone saying that Marleau is better than or even equal to Howe!
This is simply an acknowledge of him having played more games that anyone else, in history. Not a slight on Howe.
I’m not a fan of this guy, but I do acknowledge his record!
THE hockey GOD
“one-timing the shots” better than two timing !!
PS floyd ‘ate too many pills’
D
Get a room already!