Sloppy Golden Knights lose to Anaheim Ducks

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Golden Knights and Ducks traded sloppy play for much of Friday’s contest at Honda Center, waiting for someone to make a critical mistake.

The Knights blinked first.

The Ducks scored three goals in 97 seconds — two on the power play — to emerge with a 4-3 victory in both teams’ first game after a three-day holiday break. The scoring spurt gave Anaheim a 3-1 lead the Knights didn’t threaten until the game’s final minutes.

“We got punched in the mouth and didn’t really come back up off the mat swinging,” defenseman Nate Schmidt said.

The Knights took a 1-0 lead on Jonathan Marchessault’s 13th goal 4:55 into the second period. Then everything quickly unraveled for them.

Schmidt was called for tripping 7:01 into the second. Center Tomas Nosek was given a four-minute high-sticking penalty 1:46 later. It was the opening the 29th-ranked Ducks’ offense needed.

Anaheim’s 28th-ranked power play scored twice in the next 83 seconds. Their first came with just one second left in their 5-on-3 advantage as Adam Henrique beat goaltender Malcolm Subban from the bottom of the right circle.

Then 1:23 later, Cam Fowler had a shot bounce off defenseman Deryk Engelland and over Subban’s shoulder.

It took Anaheim just 14 seconds to score again, this time at 5-on-5. Left wing Max Comtois deflected a shot from defenseman Jacob Larsson past Subban to put the Ducks up 3-1.

Center Devin Shore later added a third-period goal for Anaheim, which withstood a late third-period rally led by Schmidt. It was the Ducks first win over the Knights at Honda Center in five tries.

Anaheim improved to 2-7-1 all-time against the Knights.

“They really capitalized on all those penalty minutes,” center William Karlsson said. “And then (we) can’t really get it going. When they scored their fourth it kind of took the momentum away and made it an even harder one to come back from. We did give it a try but it (was) just not enough time.”

Here’s what stood out from the Knights’ loss:

1. Comeback falls short

The final score flatters the Knights, who got two goals in the final 1:52 from Schmidt to add some late drama to the game.

Schmidt’s second goal came with 5.7 seconds remaining. Karlsson won the ensuing faceoff but the Knights never got off a final shot.

The rally gave Schmidt the second two-goal game of his career. His previous one came Dec. 4, 2018 against the Washington Capitals.

“Better that than nothing, I guess,” Karlsson said. “If we had a little more time, I think at that time we would have had the momentum and really pushed for the tie.”

2. Holiday hangover

The Knights didn’t look at their best after having three days off and traveling Friday morning.

Passes missed their marks. Their transition game didn’t get going. It wasn’t good enough to beat the Ducks even though the home team made plenty of mistakes of their own.

The Knights need to find their game again quickly. They play the Arizona Coyotes at home Saturday and the winner will claim first place in the Pacific Division.

“It wasn’t a pretty game by either team, to be honest with you,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “Something you expect after Christmas. Like I said, we get out to an early lead in the second period and play pretty well. We didn’t have any puck luck tonight and neither team created a whole lot of chances.”

3. Birthday boy scores

Marchessault provided the Knights’ lone highlight before their late rally on his 29th birthday.

The left wing received a nifty backhand pass from Karlsson and beat Anaheim goaltender John Gibson glove-side. It was Marchessault’s fourth goal in his last six games and his eighth goal in December.

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Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.