The Vegas Golden Knights kicked off the second round with a 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night, but if you think either team is celebrating, think again. For the Golden Knights, the victory came with a side of concern—they were outshot 34-22 and surrendered 12 high-danger scoring chances to Anaheim's six, according to Natural Stat Trick. That's not the formula for a deep playoff run, and they know it.
"I think the biggest thing is we need to be honest with ourselves," said Golden Knights coach John Tortorella. "We'll look at some of the stuff and I think we have a better game coming up."
On the flip side, the Ducks left the ice with a bitter taste. They dominated large stretches of the game but couldn't solve Vegas goaltender Carter Hart, who stopped 33 shots to steal the show. Anaheim missed a golden chance to grab home-ice advantage early in this best-of-seven series. Now, they're staring at a must-win Game 2 on Wednesday night in Las Vegas (9:30 p.m. EDT, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX).
"I don't think anyone in that locker room is pretty satisfied with that win," Vegas center Mitch Marner admitted. "We know we can play a lot better. I don't think we got to our (offensive) zone game at all. We gave them some good looks that Carter made some massive saves on. But we know we've got to be better. We know the series is going to get harder. That's how it always goes."
The Ducks have been here before. In the opening round against Edmonton, they dropped Game 1 before rattling off three straight wins to close out the series in six. History suggests they can bounce back, but stealing a game in Vegas is a tall order. Win Game 2, and suddenly the series shifts—home ice becomes Anaheim's to control.
"It's definitely a different task at hand," Ducks center Ryan Poehling said. "I thought we played a great game (Monday) and just using our speed throughout the series is going to kind of be what dictates how it ends up for us."
Anaheim's speed and athleticism were supposed to be their edge in this matchup, but Vegas counters with a physical, experienced brand of hockey that can grind down any opponent. The rough-and-tumble play only adds to the drama as both teams look to adjust. For fans, this series is already shaping up to be a battle of wills—and a reminder that in playoff hockey, style points don't matter. Only the W does.