Golden Knights take high-scoring affair against Anaheim Ducks
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Nicolas Roy’s celebration said it all.
The Golden Knights center shuffled his skates and fired a punch through the air that looked like it could dent steel after scoring in the second period Friday against the Anaheim Ducks. For weeks he found himself stymied, frustrated as he and his team’s offense fell into a rut.
Friday wasn’t a perfect exhale for Roy and the Knights — they nearly let a 5-2 lead slip away — but it was plenty cathartic. He snapped a 15-game goal drought by scoring twice, and the rest of the team’s offense surged to life in a 5-4 win at Honda Center.
The victory put the Knights back in a playoff spot with 26 games remaining. They briefly fell out of the Western Conference wild card spots Friday after Dallas’ overtime win against Winnipeg, but jumped into third place in the Pacific Division with their win.
“We’ve been losing some one-goal games,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “We’ve been losing games where we’ve either scored one or two goals. This is a three-goal league. If you score three you’ve got a chance to win. It took us five tonight, but we’ll take it.”
The Knights have been in a funk since captain Mark Stone was pulled out of the lineup with a back injury before a 6-0 loss to the Calgary Flames on Feb. 9. The team entered Friday 2-5-1 since that day, with 15 goals to its name in that stretch.
The difficult stretch was bound to lead some Knights’ players to grip their sticks a little tighter. But a lot of them loosened up against the Ducks.
Right wing Jakob Silfverberg opened the scoring for Anaheim with a shot from the corner of the offensive zone, but defenseman Ben Hutton answered to tie the game seven minutes into the first period. It was the Knights’ first goal by a defenseman since Feb. 8, a span of eight games.
The team then exploded in the second for its fourth four-goal period of the season. Left wing Jonathan Marchessault gave the Knights a 2-1 lead 18 seconds into the frame after receiving a pass from below the goal line from center William Karlsson.
Left wing Nicolas Deslauriers tied the game again with a shot from the point. Then Roy got going. He scored 3:49 into the second when a shot by defenseman Shea Theodore bounced off the end boards and to him in front of the net. He struck again 3:05 later to give him as many goals Friday as he had the previous 63 days.
“It was a little bit there (since I scored),” Roy said. “I had a couple chances the last couple games, couldn’t get one so getting one there was really good.”
Right wing Michael Amadio followed Roy’s surge by tallying his first goal since Jan. 24 as part of the first three-point night of his career. Anaheim, down 5-2, then started to fight back.
Center Trevor Zegras scored on the power play before the second period was over to make it 5-3. Right wing Troy Terry added another power-play goal 6:39 into the third to make it a one-goal game.
Ultimately, the Knights’ slump-busting breakthrough in the second was enough to win. Their five goals were their most since Feb. 1 against Buffalo.
“We were due,” DeBoer said. “Some of those guys were due and they went to the right places in order to score.”
Three more takeaways:
1. Amadio lights it up
DeBoer admitted when Amadio returned Feb. 25 after an eight-game absence that he probably didn’t deserve to sit as long as he did.
But, with the bottom of the Knights’ lineup playing well, it became difficult to find a spot for him until injuries opened some up.
DeBoer is going to have a harder time sitting Amadio again. The 25-year-old had a goal and two assists against the Ducks to give him 10 points in 30 games as a Knight.
He scored after battling for position in front of the Ducks’ net and getting his stick on the ice to redirect a feed from center Chandler Stephenson.
“I think just getting into the right areas,” Amadio said. “(Stephenson) made a great pass on my goal. I just found myself back door and he put it right on my stick.”
2. More injuries
The Knights’ injuries have become so numerous DeBoer couldn’t remember all of them after Friday’s game.
Defenseman Brayden McNabb and center Brett Howden were the latest additions to the injury report and didn’t play against the Ducks. Both suffered undisclosed injuries in Thursday’s 5-2 loss against the Boston Bruins.
Defenseman Dylan Coghlan played in place of McNabb and center Jake Leschyshyn was called up from Henderson to replace Howden.
“Those type of guys for us tonight, Amadio, Leschyshyn and (rookie left wing Jonas) Rondbjerg did a real good job for us,” DeBoer said. “Coghlan came in and gave us some real good minutes. We got some real good depth contributions.”
3. Hutton’s revenge
Hutton’s goal had to feel especially sweet. And not just because it was his 100th career point.
The defenseman played 34 games with Anaheim last season and was in Ducks’ camp this fall on a professional tryout agreement. He didn’t make the opening-day roster, clearing the way for him to sign with the Knights on Oct. 28.
Hutton’s score was his second goal and ninth point in 35 games with the team.
Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.
