Lines for Ducks at Golden Knights
Snapshot 2026-10-03T01:17:17Z — lines move, check your book. For information only. 21+.
Why this game matters
The four-goal blitz
The Anaheim Ducks scored four goals in a span of just over seven minutes and spent the rest of the night hanging on for dear life. It started late in the first period, when Beckett Sennecke took a highlight-reel stretch pass from Leo Carlsson, snuck behind two Vegas defenders, and beat Carter Hart with a wrist shot at 19:52. Then the second period became a nightmare for the home team: Alex Killorn, parked in the slot, redirected Noah Warren's wrist shot over Hart's shoulder at 1:33 — Warren, making his NHL debut, picked up his first career point on the play — and 55 seconds later Jeff Malott scored on a double deflection, Jackson LaCombe's shot bouncing off Tim Washe and Malott's skate under Hart's pads. At 7:03, a wide-open Carlsson slammed in a rebound after Hart stopped Cutter Gauthier and A.J. Greer. 4-0, T-Mobile Arena stunned silent.
Carlsson's $90 million statement
Leo Carlsson played his first game since signing a five-year, $90 million contract in the offseason as a restricted free agent, and he played like the number was a down payment on something bigger. A goal, an assist, and that absurd stretch pass to Sennecke that broke the game open. The Ducks have been waiting for their young center to become the face of the franchise, and against a division rival on the road, he looked every bit the part. If this is the Carlsson Anaheim gets all season, the Pacific Division has a problem.
Dostal stands tall when it mattered
When Vegas woke up in the third period, Lukas Dostal was the only thing between the Ducks and a blown four-goal lead. The Anaheim goaltender made 27 saves, and his best ones came late — with the Knights pressing at 4-3, throwing everything at the net, Dostal held his ground and preserved Anaheim's season-opening win. A four-goal cushion turning into a one-goal win isn't how you draw it up, but a goalie who slams the door when the avalanche comes is exactly how you survive it.
The Knights' furious rally falls short
Down 4-0, Vegas finally remembered who it is. Shea Theodore snapped a wrist shot over Dostal's shoulder early in the third — a goal Anaheim unsuccessfully challenged for offside, earning the Ducks a two-minute delay-of-game penalty when the goal stood. Tomas Hertl then scored on the ensuing power play, ripping a wrister in the slot off a Mitch Marner pass, and Braeden Bowman made it a one-goal game with 2:50 left. Jack Eichel finished with two assists, and the building was shaking. But the comeback ran out of time, and the Knights fell to 1-1-0 after opening with a 5-2 win over Chicago on Tuesday. "You're never going to see this team quit," captain Mark Stone said. "I think that's why you've seen us have playoff and regular-season success as a team. We don't quit."
Craig's verdict
New Knights head coach Ryan Craig, now 1-1 in his first week behind an NHL bench after his promotion from the AHL affiliate, pointed to one period as the difference. "I didn't mind our first period. I thought our start was good," Craig said. "They were ready to play as well. As the second period started, they put more pucks to the net, got some bounces and then won some races. You don't ever want to get down in that situation, but I liked our response, but it took us awhile to respond." Carter Hart finished with 16 saves in his second start of the season — and on a night when Anaheim's four goals came in bunches, "awhile" was all it took.
History says this shouldn't happen here
Vegas losing in regulation to Anaheim at T-Mobile Arena is genuinely rare. The Knights had been 15-4-1 in 20 regular-season home games against the Ducks — Friday was just the fourth regulation loss in that building against Anaheim. It's early October, so nobody's sounding alarms, but dropping a home game you led the shot count in (or should have won) is the kind of thing that gets remembered in April when seeding is on the line.
The road ahead
Anaheim (1-0-0) takes its opener on the road and heads home with house money — a young team with a $90 million center playing like one. Vegas (1-1-0) leaves town for a Pacific swing: at Vancouver on October 5, at Seattle on October 7. The Knights' response will be interesting to watch — this is a veteran group with a rookie coach, and the third-period push showed the buy-in is there. The question is whether the starts get cleaner. "It's early in the season," Stone said. "I like that we started to build some better habits leading into the next game."
By the numbers
Period by period: Ducks 1-0 after one, 4-0 after two, Knights 3-0 in the third — 4-3 final. Shots favored the comeback but the scoreboard favored the visitors: Dostal 27 saves, Hart 16. Eichel's two assists gave him five points through two games. And somewhere in Anaheim's film room, there's a four-goal lead they built in 7:03 and a third period they're going to pretend never happened.
Team snapshots
