Ducks edged by Vegas for 5th loss in past 6 games

ANAHEIM — The Ducks hung tough against one of the NHL’s top teams but lacked finishing ability once more in a 3-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night at Honda Center.

They fell to 0-2 against Vegas, whom they beat in three of four meetings last year, and have lost five of their past six games overall, including four of five during a season-long homestand that will conclude Friday night against Detroit.

Brock McGinn and Frank Vatrano scored a goal apiece in support of Ducks goaltender Lukáš Dostál, who made 36 saves. Brett Leason assisted on both goals. Cam Fowler (upper body) and Robby Fabbri (lower body) were both placed on injured reserve, while Mason McTavish (upper body) also sat out but remained day-to-day.

Centers Nicolas Roy and Tomáš Hertl and winger Pavel Dorofeyev scored for Vegas (10-4-2). Former Ducks defenseman Shea Theodore contributed two assists, and Adin Hill came up with 22 saves.

“We held our ground for most of the game, we did some great things and I thought we gave ourselves a chance to be in the game all the way until the end,” Ducks captain Radko Gudas said. “We missed some opportunities to score, but we had the opportunities there.”

As what Gudas called “a game of inches” wore on, Alex Killorn was unable to put a point-blank shot into an open net on goal, Leason was robbed on a sterling chance and a failed power play pushed the Ducks to 0 for 3 on the evening. Killorn assisted on Vatrano’s one-timer with 12.5 seconds to play after Leason’s silky move at the blue line drew a crowd of defenders, allowing him to slip the puck to Vatrano for a goal that saved the Ducks (5-8-2) from their sixth one-goal output in 15 games. Vatrano, who had 37 goals last year, has just two thus far.

Meanwhile, Leason has three of his four points this season in his past two games.

“That assist he made was incredible, the way he pulled it off the board and right onto Frank’s tape, that’s a big-time play. He almost scored to make it 3-2 on the turnover,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said.

Vegas extended its edge to 3-1 at the 4:29 mark of the third. Dorofeyev picked off a casual pass from below the Ducks’ goal line by Isac Lundeström, placing one shot on net and then scoring off a second bid for an unassisted goal that gave him 10 points in his last 10 games.

“There were some whiffs, there were some passes that went over blades and right to their guys, and they’re too good of a team to give them those opportunities in front of our net,” said Cronin, adding that he did not feel his team’s turnovers were of the careless variety.

Though a pair of penalties were not called – what likely should have been a double-minor for the high-sticking that sent Jansen Harkins back to the dressing room and an apparent slash that precluded a Ryan Strome putback late in the second period – the Ducks began the final frame on an unsuccessful power play, setting the tone for a series of brushes with glory.

Vegas out-shot the Ducks handily in the second period and had the middle frame’s only goal as well as a second-intermission lead to show for it.

Hertl and his unit needed just 15 seconds of power-play time as they won a faceoff to set up a Dorofeyev one-timer from the right circle. After Dostál beat back the initial shot and Hertl’s follow-up, Hertl passed the puck from low to high, where it moved across the top of the umbrella to set up a Jack Eichel heave on net. Hertl popped in the rebound for a go-ahead goal at the 6:43 mark. Eichel entered the match with eight points in his past three games and his power-play assist Wednesday moved him into a four-way tie for third place in the NHL with 25 points.

“I liked our special teams. We outscored them 1-0, and that ended up being the difference in the game,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said.

The Ducks played a sound first period, killing the game’s first penalty and generating high-quality chances, including their ice-breaking goal with 2:21 left. They ceded an equalizer with just 48 seconds to play.

Theodore weaved his way from the right point through the left circle and down to the goal line, where his pass through the goal crease found Roy for a redirection marker after Roy beat Harkins for position in the slot.

“We worked really hard. Sometimes we made little mistakes that cost us,” said McGinn, extolling the Ducks’ intensity on the forecheck for much of the night.

McGinn had put the Ducks on the board and ahead by a goal 93 seconds earlier with his third goal of the season and his second point in two games. Leason chipped the puck into the zone and then went to work on the forecheck, pinning and dispossessing Alex Pietrangelo. When he got the puck back behind the net, Leason found an activated Pavel Mintyukov near the left faceoff dot for a dangerous shot that produced a rebound for McGinn’s opportunistic tally.

“They worked hard. I can’t fault that,” Cronin said on a night when his team drew to within a goal in the waning seconds. “We put ourselves in a position to tie the game, and we’ll build off it.”