LAS VEGAS — The Vegas Golden Knights took a 1-0 series lead Monday night with a 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks at T-Mobile Arena, but the final score didn’t reflect the balance of play.
Coach John Tortorella was blunt in his assessment: “They were the better team tonight.”
The Ducks controlled the first period, outshooting the Knights 11-6 and dominating 5-on-5 play with an 11-3 edge in shots, 9-4 in scoring chances, and 4-1 in high-danger opportunities, per Natural Stat Trick.
Goaltender Carter Hart kept Vegas in it, stopping all 11 first-period shots. Tortorella called Hart “our best player tonight.”
Brett Howden broke the deadlock 3:14 into the second period, tapping in a backdoor pass from Mitch Marner for his fifth goal in four games. “We were a little sloppy,” Howden said. “We recognized that and we knew that.”
The Knights were outshot 34-22, only the third time in the playoffs they’ve been held under 30 shots. Anaheim generated 2.76 expected goals at 5-on-5 and held a 12-6 edge in high-danger chances, yet Vegas outscored them 2-1.
“We’re fortunate we found a way to win,” Tortorella said. “They played well. Some of it had to do with them. They played well, but we have some things to work on. I’ll leave it at that.”
Marner, who recorded his second consecutive multipoint game, said, “I don’t think anyone in that locker room is very satisfied with that win. We know we got to be a lot better. We know we can play a lot better.”
One bright spot: the penalty kill went 4-for-4 against a Ducks power play that had gone 8-for-16 in the first round. Vegas is now 19-of-20 shorthanded through seven playoff games. “The PK was great tonight,” Howden said. “Obviously, we’d like to stay out of the box because they’ve got a good power play, but I thought our PK did a really good job and we created momentum off of that.”
Game 2 is Wednesday back at T-Mobile Arena. The Knights lost Game 2 in the previous round after winning Game 1, and Anaheim bounced back to even its first-round series after dropping the opener on the road. “I’m certainly not going to apologize for the win,” Tortorella said. “I think the biggest thing is we need to be honest with ourselves. We’ll look at some of the stuff, and I think we have a better game coming up.”
