The Anaheim Ducks suffered a 6-2 defeat to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3, trailing the series 2-1. The Ducks had previously split the first two games in Las Vegas.
After splitting Games 1 and 2 in Las Vegas to open their second-round series vs the Vegas Golden Knights, the Anaheim Ducks returned to Orange County for Game 3 on Friday.
The feeling around the Ducks locker room is that, with the way they played in Vegas, they could have easily entered Friday with a 2-0 series lead, as they earned to build off of that heading into Games 3 and 4 at home.
2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round 2, Game 3 - Ducks vs. Golden Knights Gameday Preview (05/08/26)
Vegas felt they had more to offer in this series than what they showed in the two opening games, and aimed to turn that corner on the road. Knights head coach John Tortorella made some lineup adjustments at the end of Game 2 and stuck to them for Game 3. Former Duck William Karlsson lined up between Brett Howden and Mitch Marner, while Hertl slid to the middle between Pavel Dorofeyev and Keegan Kolesar. started on Vegasâ top line. made his series debut on the third pair.
The Ducks lost to the Golden Knights 6-2 in Game 3.
The Vegas Golden Knights lead the series 2-1 against the Anaheim Ducks.
The Ducks split the first two games in Las Vegas, winning one and losing the other.
The loss puts the Ducks in a challenging position as they need to win the next game to even the series.
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Ducks suffer a 6-2 defeat to the Golden Knights in Game 3, losing their series advantage.
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Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville made a dramatic lineup change in the moments leading up to Game 2, swapping out Mason McTavish and Ian Moore from the Ducks forward group and inserting Jansen Harkins and Ross Johnston. With no changes from Wednesday, hereâs how the Ducks lined up to start this game:
Kreider-Carlsson-Terry
Gauthier-Granlund-Killorn
Viel-Poehling-Sennecke
Johnston-Washe-Harkins
LaCombe-Trouba
Mintyukov-Carlson
Hinds-Helleson
Lukas Dostal got the start for the Ducks and saved just five of eight shots before he was pulled after the first period. Ville Husso was inserted in Dostalâs spot and saved 17 of 19. In Vegasâ net, Carter Hart got the nod and stopped 31 of 33 shots.
This game opened poorly for the Ducks and didnât get any better for the duration. Possession numbers were fairly even, but defensive lapses, stale offense, and sub-optimal goaltending sent the Ducks into too great a hole to climb out of.
The Ducks continue to struggle on the power play and have now given up more goals while on the man-advantage than theyâve scored. Carter Hart is establishing himself as a capable big game goaltender, but the Ducks and his teamâs defensive structure are also making his life easy.
âWe certainly knew they were going to come play their best game, and they were better,â Quenneville said after the game. âThey had the puck way more in the offensive zone; they spent some time in our end. I didnât mind the start til they scored, and we lost some momentum there. Getting that third one at the end of the period certainly was a killer, and that was basically the game.â
Lukas Dostal-The numbers will illustrate that Dostal ended the first period with a .625 SV% and -1.82 goals saved above expected. Of the three goals he let in, the only one that could be considered soft was the second, a shorthanded shot from the left dot by Knightsâ defenseman Brayden McNabb. The shot was unscreened and didnât appear to be tipped. It was, however, unconventional, as it was a pre-composite stick style drag wrist shot, and McNabb didnât fully follow through: a change-up of sorts and an awkward shot for Dostal to stop. Itâs one he needed to stop, nonetheless.
The first goal was completely screened by Ducks center Ryan Poehling, and the third pinballed around and off of Dostal, leaving him scrambling and attempting to react before Mitch Marner buried from the left post.
Cycle-The Ducks generated a fair amount of shots (33) and shot attempts (55), but the majority of them were from the perimeter, blocked, didnât produce rebounds, or were seen by Hart the whole way. The Ducks insisted on feeding pucks low to high and funneling them toward the crease. The success they found late in the game came when they were generating shots from below the dots and/or finding soft ice in the mid-slot, away from the crease.
While possession time wasnât discouraging, the Ducks may look to add wrinkles of forward movement, skating with the puck from low to high and activating defensemen down the wall, involving more offensive talent while drawing Vegasâ Goliath defenders away from the net front.
Lineup-The Ducks played disciplined and detailed with this lineup in Game 2, but the offensive limitations were apparent when they were desperate to get back into the game and craved different ways to generate offense. Mason McTavish is a highly-paid, highly-skilled, offensive player who very probably doesnât win the Ducks this hockey game, but having him in the lineup wouldnât have made them worse defensively.
The Ducks will look to even the series on Sunday and avoid a 3-1 deficit to a Vegas team that appears as confident as they are talented from the net out.