3 Reasons Vegas Golden Knights Eliminated Ducks – Hockey Writers – Vegas Golden Knights

For the fifth time in their nine seasons, the Vegas Golden Knights are playing in the Western Conference Finals. They find themselves in the third round following a six-game winning streak over the Utah Mammoth and Anaheim Ducks. Before we switch gears to the Western Conference Final and the Colorado Avalanche, let’s take a look at the reasons why the Golden Knights were able to send the Ducks to Round 2.

Carter Hart Was Better Than “Enough Is Enough”

Carter Hart had his ups and downs in the first round, but by the end of the series, he was “good enough” for the Golden Knights to advance. However, it’s clear that if the Golden Knights want to go deep, Hart will need to get better.

Hart was already against the Ducks. In six games, he posted a 1.99 goals against average (GAA) and a .935 save percentage (SV%). In addition, he gave up more than two goals just once. To put this in perspective, in Round 1 against Utah, Hart gave up three or more goals in three games.

Hart’s heroics in Round 2 will likely be lost in the excitement of Mitch Marner’s 11 points (five goals) and Pavel Dorofeyev’s big Game 5, but there is no doubt that Hart’s fingerprints are all over this winning streak. In addition, his heroics produced a team that ranked in the top five in goals per game during the regular season.

Head coach John Tortorella offered praise for his goal during the series when discussing the penalty kill:

“It can be difficult sometimes to block a shot no matter what, but the depth of it. You need a good goaltender. He’s been good at the kill and in all these competitions. So yeah, it’s been good, and it’s got to continue to be good.”

Defense Close Down Ducks

Hart isn’t the only reason the Ducks’ scoring has stopped. The defense in front of him worked the same way. After scoring 26 goals against the Edmonton Oilers in Round 1, the Ducks were limited to just 13 goals in Round 2.

Defenseman Jackson LaCombe led the Ducks with nine points against the Oilers. The Golden Knights have one assist in six games. In addition, Troy Terry, Leo Carlsson, and Cutter Gauthier combined for 10 goals and 26 points against the Oilers. The Golden Knights held the trio and scored just one goal with 11 points.

What makes this even more impressive is that the Golden Knights’ defense did it in a two-game sweep. Brayden McNabb’s foul play early in Game 5 forced Vegas to play a man down, but they held the Ducks to just two goals. McNabb was then suspended in Game 6, but the Vegas defense allowed just one goal in his absence.

The Golden Knights defense simply made life difficult for the Ducks, and the results speak for themselves.

Continuing to Win the Special Teams War

Special teams were a key part of Vegas’ Round 1 victory, and the same is true in Round 2.

To really show how good the Golden Knights were on special teams, let’s take a look at each special teams performance by game:

• Game 1: No special teams goals (Vegas wins 3-1)
• Game 2: Vegas gets one power play goal (Ducks win 3-1)
• Game 3: Vegas gets Power-play and short goals (Vegas wins 6-2)
• Game 4: Ducks score two power play goals; Vegas got one (Ducks won 4-3)
• Game 5: Each team gets a power play goal (Vegas wins 3-2)
• Game 6: Vegas scores two power play goals and a shorthanded goal (Vegas wins 5-1)

The Vegas power play has scored a power play goal in five of six games. They added a shorthanded goal twice. During that time, they have allowed only power play goals to the Ducks in two of six games, while allowing no shorthanded goals.