*Photo from the New Haven Register*
Needing to break through, they tore the whole door down. Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist, Reilly Smith had two assists, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Anaheim Ducks with a 7-2 victory on Sunday afternoon in Vegas.
Vegas burst out for a 5 goal 3rd period to put the Ducks away, winning their 3rd straight game to improve to 32-18-4. In addition to Eichel, Vegas saw Shea Theodore, William Carrier, Phil Kessel, and Michael Amadio each had a goal and two assists, while Smith and William Karlsson had two assists.
Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said of the winning streak that "You come out of the break, you're refreshed and that mental weight is gone. It's kind of like you're starting over. The guys are feeling it right now."
Paul Cotter provided the only goal of the first period for Vegas, making it 1-0 on his 10th goal of the season. Brett Howden doubled the Vegas lead to 2-0 at the 8:07 mark of the second period, assisted by Keegan Kolesar and Nicolas Roy. Frank Vatrano got one back for the Ducks, making it 2-1 after two periods.
Theodore kicked off the scoring in the 3rd with his 5th goal of the season to make it 3-1 Vegas. Kessel and Eichel then added goals to make it a 5-1 game before Anaheim scored again. Isac Lundestrom scored his second goal of the season for the Ducks to cut the deficit to 5-2. Amadio and Carrier then scored to wrap up a 7-2 win for the Golden Knights.
Carrier said after the game that "We had a couple of good looks there. Even the power play hit the post and stuff. Couple of guys were due to score. We just came off the jump with the energy in the building. We wanted to make sure we came out and played well. Since the beginning of the year, it's been on and off here at home."
Getting the start in goal for the Golden Knights was Adin Hill, who turned in a strong game in net. Hill turned aside 23 of the 25 shots he saw from the Ducks, which was good for a .920 save percentage as his record increased to 12-5-1 in 19 starts.
Starting opposite Hill was Anaheim's John Gibson, who fell to 10-22-5 in another ugly game. Gibson stopped only 32 out of the 37 shots on goal that Vegas had, recording a paltry .821 save percentage in the loss.
Asked about the loss, Anaheim head coach Dallas Eakins said that it was "Not good. Vegas got a couple of hardworking, good bounce goals. Then we fell apart, trying to do somebody else's job. Everybody else's job in our zone."
Both teams resume their schedules with home games up next. The Ducks host the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night, with Gibson in line to start. Vegas plays host to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, with Hill the expected starter.
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