ANAHEIM, Calif. – Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy and his squad were not shy about the excitement Saturday night’s matchup against the Anaheim Ducks had, despite falling in overtime for the sixth time this season and surrendering what would have been a go-ahead victory in the Pacific Division standings.
“I imagine the fans got their money’s worth in terms of excitement,” Cassidy said. “There was some good offense out there. Some good saves, some good physicality. A lot of good things.”
With a quick pace opening period, goals from Shea Theodore and Braeden Bowman in the first five minutes had quick responses from the Ducks who tied the game over the span of 34 seconds before the midway mark of the first period.
“They can score,” Cassidy said. “I know for us we gave up a couple of quick ones, but our guys are pretty good at getting back to, 'Let's play the game in front of us and not turn this into a track meet,' so to speak.”
Responding with just over two minutes left in the opening frame, Tomas Hertl deflected a Jack Eichel shot with the butt-end of his stick on the powerplay to retake a 3-2 lead.
The Ducks responded by earning 57.02% of the expected goals share in the second period – in which they tied the game on a Troy Terry goal – and 61.73% expected goals share in the third – which went scoreless for both teams – dominating the latter 2/3 of the game which would go into overtime.
Anaheim continued their dominant offensive display in overtime with a 7-1 shot differential, and giving the Golden Knights (10-4-7) their first game of the 2025/26 campaign where they allowed 30-or-more shots.
Following a battle on the corners, Mitch Marner played the puck behind his net and the puck quickly slipped the tape and landed on Ducks’ forward Cutter Gauthier’s stick just in front of the crease, leading to an easy game-winning goal and 4-3 victory for the Ducks (14-7-1) who reclaimed early-season Pacific Division leading rights.
“I saw pretty much a pizza right up the middle,” Gauthier said, “and I just tried to turn around and shoot it. Didn’t really know what was going on, but I don’t think the goalie did either, so thankfully, uh, that puck went in there.”
VEGAS OVERTIME WOES CONTINUE
With the loss, Vegas falls to 1-7 in games that go beyond regulation (0-1 in shootouts).
“We need to manage the puck better,” Cassidy said. “It's that simple. There's no complicated answer.”
“That's a three-or-four-point swing right there,” Vegas’ defenceman Zach Whitecloud said. “These points matter big time coming down the stretch.”
JACK EICHEL MOVING UP POINTS LEADERBOARD
With assists on the Theodore and Hertl goals, Jack Eichel moved into a tie for fifth in points (28) across the National Hockey League. He is tied with Ducks forward Leo Carlsson – who also reached 28 points on Saturday night – and Maple Leafs forward William Nylander.
Eichel became the second player in Golden Knights history to record 40 multi-point periods, with both of his assists coming in the first period. He trails only Jonathan Marchessault, who has 42 multi-point periods (source: NHL Stats)
He's got an elite shot but for me something will happen and they're coming the other way, and he comes out of nowhere to break up the play,” Cassidy said. “I appreciate that part of his game. The 200-foot game and commitment to keeping the puck out of his net. When you can do that and you're a high-end offensive player – those are the elite guys in the league, and he's been doing that for us since day one and puts value in it. Hopefully it rubs off on the younger guys who come up and see the effort away from the puck. That's how you win in this league, so good on Jack.”
ANAHEIM DUCKS BECOMING CHALLENGING DIVISION OPPONENT
The Anaheim Ducks have finished sixth-or-worst in the Pacific Division each of the last seven seasons but now hold the top spot in the Pacific Division at the quarter-mark for most teams (Philadelphia and Winnipeg have yet to play their 21st games, the 25.6% of the season for teams.
With their young core beginning to develop into more refined talent, and in some cases, star-caliber talent (looking at you, Leo Carlsson); the Ducks look like a foe to be dealt with in the Pacific Division and potential future playoff matchup for the Golden Knights who entered the season with +425 odds to win the division (ESPN).
“They’re doing really good,” Hertl said. “Leo Carlsson, for a big body, he’s a great skater and a game changer. The other guys are stepping up too with a great goalie in net. It’s definitely tough to play them.”
“They’re the best in the Pacific right now and every team is trying to measure up against one another,” Whitecloud said. “These could be possible matchups later down the line and you want to play your best game every time against these teams and expect to get their best as well… Not that you get more *up* for these games but these are possible matchups you see down the line and you want to implant in the other team's mind that these are going to be tough matchups and physical and fast-paced and you want to dictate. You don't want the other team dictating their pace on you, right? But that's what every team is trying to do.”
“You could see that they were getting better,” Cassidy said. “There was growth in their team last year I thought. Joel (Quenneville) obviously brings an offensive slant to the team that he's always done a great job with, especially in Chicago they had that type of team. Maybe the young defenceman now are more comfortable getting up the ice.
“It's hard to come into this league as a young guy – (Olen Zellweger) and (Jackson LaCombe) are involved all the time and just do that because you have to defend. It's a hard league to play in. You gotta be hard on pucks. You gotta body position. You get comfortable in that area, then you get to play to your strengths a little bit. Then a guy like (Leo) Carlsson is obviously one more year in the league. Basically all of their guys except (Beckett) Sennecke is a newbie, but you could see it coming.
“Could I have predicted this quick? No. But I'm not around it every day – and I've said it – it's still a long season and for young guys it's every night for 82; not for 20. We tell that to our young guys as well. That's the challenge in front of them. So far, so good for Anaheim and we've had good games against them. They've been exciting games and we look forward to the next one.”
TOMAS HERTL HAPPY (OR UNHAPPY) WITH FUTURE TEAMMATE
Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced, including a toe kick save to keep the game within one goal for Anaheim. To the displeasure of his Czechian national teammate, Tomas Hertl, who hopes he can have a similar performance during the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“I'm looking for him to play good in February, not right now,” Hertl said with a smile. “He's the best goalie for the Czech. Normally I'm cheering for him but not tonight. Hopefully he will be even better in February.”
UP NEXT
The Golden Knights will head to Salt Lake City on Monday to face the Utah Mammoth (11-8-3) before returning home for a four-game homestand from Wednesday to the following Tuesday.
