Ducks Rally Past Golden Knights 3-1 in Game 2 — Golden Knights Vs Ducks

The Ducks beat the Golden Knights 3-1 in golden knights vs ducks Game 2 on Wednesday night, erasing a 2-0 series deficit and heading back home with the second-round matchup tied. Anaheim held a 2-0 lead with less than seven minutes left and survived a late Vegas push that turned the closing minutes into a scramble.

Mikael Granlund was part of the stop that mattered most, diving into a goalmouth scramble and blocking one shot with his outstretched toe as the Ducks protected the lead. Lukas Dostal summed up the sequence after the game, saying he was playing “more soccer goalie than hockey goalie out there.”

Quenneville Sees Ducks Growth

Joel Quenneville said Thursday that the Ducks are “playing the best hockey we’ve shown all year.” He also pointed to the season’s growing pains, saying the group had been saying all year it could not wait to get to the playoffs and see how good it could be. That view fits what happened in Game 2: Anaheim did not just score first, it kept its shape when the game tightened.

The Ducks have allowed only 4 goals in 2 games against Vegas, and one of those was an empty-netter in Game 1. The other came with 5.6 seconds left in Game 2 and did not alter the result. Against a Golden Knights core that has been together for years, Anaheim is leaning on a different kind of playoff education.

Terry On Playoff Experience

Troy Terry said Thursday that “A lot of us are going through it together for the first time... and the whole experience is just bringing us closer together.” He added that the Ducks can feel that closeness in the room whether the moment is a blocked shot or a goal, and that the team had been hungry for this chance after spending the regular season learning on the fly.

That matters for a group that had a seven-year playoff drought before ending it this season. The Ducks also went 3-0 at Honda Center in the first round against the Edmonton Oilers, and Orange County fans had not seen hockey in May since 2017, when Anaheim reached the Western Conference finals. Now the next test comes at home again, with Game 3 set to give the Ducks a chance to turn the series lead into control.