3 takeaways: Knights find net against former team in win over Ducks
It was a good day to be a Golden Knights player who was selected to represent his country.
It was also a good day to be a Knights player who used to play for the Anaheim Ducks.
Defenseman Shea Theodore and center William Karlsson scored against their former team, and the Knights completed the sweep of a back-to-back with a 4-1 win over the Ducks on Wednesday at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Theodore scored twice, including an empty-netter.
“We feel good about our game and where we’re at,” Theodore said on the Knights’ postgame show.
Right wing Victor Olofsson collected two assists for his first points since returning from a lower-body injury that cost him 20 games, and goaltender Ilya Samsonov made 19 saves. Right wing Alexander Holtz also scored to push the Knights to 3-0-0 against the Ducks this season.
It was announced Wednesday that Karlsson and Theodore are among seven Knights players who will take part in the 4 Nations Face-Off that will take place in Boston and Montreal from Feb. 12 to 20 in place of the NHL All-Star Game this season.
Karlsson was selected for Sweden, while Theodore was one of four Knights players — joining defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, goaltender Adin Hill and captain Mark Stone — to be selected to Team Canada.
The two celebrated by doing what they’ve done most of their Knights careers: handle business against their former team.
Karlsson, a second-round pick by the Ducks in 2011, opened the scoring at 16:26 of the first off a rebound for a 1-0 lead. It was his 16th career goal and 27th point in 37 games against Anaheim.
The Ducks traded Karlsson to the Columbus Blue Jackets in March 2015. Two years later, the Knights picked him from Columbus in the expansion draft.
Theodore made it 2-0 at 6:38 of the second off a rebound to score his first goal since Oct. 11, then added the empty-netter with 44 seconds left.
Theodore was a first-round pick by the Ducks in 2013 who played 53 games for the team. Anaheim traded Theodore to the Knights during the expansion draft as part of the Knights selecting defenseman Clayton Stoner.
The 29-year-old Theodore has seven goals and 23 points in 29 games against the Ducks.
The Knights (17-7-3) kept their momentum going after putting together a defensive masterclass on Tuesday in a 1-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers at T-Mobile Arena. They kept the defensive pressure up for nearly two periods by keeping Anaheim (10-11-3) off the scoreboard until defenseman Jackson LaCombe ended the shutout bid.
Holtz provided the insurance to push the lead back to two 3:05 into the third with his first goal since Oct. 22 to make it 3-1.
It was a strong performance for Samsonov after giving up six goals in a 6-0 loss to Utah on Saturday.
“Tough last (game) for me in Vegas,” Samsonov said. “The last couple of days we worked hard in practice.”
The Knights will return home to face the Dallas Stars on Friday in the first rematch of last season’s seven-game, first-round series that Dallas won.
“It’s going to be an important game,” Theodore said.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
1. Defense travels
The only difference compared to Tuesday was the Knights gave up a goal. They did not give Anaheim any room to get comfortable offensively. The Knights held the Ducks to 20 shots while blocking 17 shots.
They blocked 22 shots on Tuesday and held the Oilers to 12 shots on goal through two periods before they had 16 in the final frame. Much like Adin Hill did, Samsonov held firm in his crease after giving up the long-range goal from LaCombe.
The defensive issues may not be completely resolved, but there’s no doubt the Knights have taken strides the past few games to suggest they’re turning a corner.
2. Holtz breaks slump
It’s been a rough year for Holtz. The 22-year-old hasn’t found a home in the lineup and has been moved down to the fourth line.
Holtz scored just his second goal of the season off a great pass from left wing Tanner Pearson to pull Anaheim goaltender John Gibson away from his crease to give Holtz an easy tap-in.
“He had good poise with the puck,” Holtz said. “I was hoping he would see me.”
It’s a good sign for Holtz to find the back of the net, no matter how easy it might have looked.
3. Knights beat Gibson again
The Ducks’ netminder has been a quality goalie for a long time, but it’s been a struggle against the Knights as he fell to 6-18-5 all-time against them.
Gibson is three wins away from 200 in his NHL career, but his stellar career has hit a speed bump each time he’s played the Knights.
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.