Golden Knights overcome slow start to beat Ducks, 4-1

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Officially, Shea Theodore’s goal in the first period Wednesday will not go down as the game-winner for the Golden Knights.

But it probably should.

“I thought that turned the game around for us,” coach Gerard Gallant said.

Theodore’s goal snapped the Knights out of their holiday malaise, and sparked a 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks before an announced crowd of 17,444 at Honda Center.

Cody Eakin’s second-period goal proved to be the game-winner, and William Karlsson and David Perron added goals in the third period for the Knights (24-9-2, 50 points), who grabbed sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division heading into Thursday’s game at Los Angeles (22-11-4, 48 points).

The Knights won their fifth straight — their third five-game winning streak — and improved to 9-0-1 in their past 10 games.

“At that point when they have the momentum in the first, you just want to try to manage it,” Eakin said. “Get your legs back, do little things, get the puck in deep. Shea’s goal gave us a chance to stay in it.”

Malcolm Subban made 27 saves to earn his second win over the Ducks this month and improve his record to 9-2.

Rickard Rakell scored 1:40 into the game for Anaheim, but Subban was brilliant in the first period with 14 stops, as the Knights struggled to find their legs after the three-day holiday break.

”Our biggest trait is we’re resilient and don’t give up,” Subban said. “When a team’s working really hard like we do, it’s tough to generate chances. We’ve been really consistent.”

Theodore, a former Ducks prospect, scored with 2:10 remaining in the first period, as he walked in from the left point and beat goaltender John Gibson up high to tie the game at 1.

”I felt like that was big,” Theodore said. “When you have a period like that coming off a little break, you’re feeling a little rusty. I felt like that kind of gave us a little bit of confidence knowing we can regroup in the intermission and come back strong.

Eakin gave the Knights a 2-1 lead with 4:48 left in the second period. After jumping out of the penalty box, Eakin spun past Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm in the neutral zone and beat Gibson through the five-hole for his first goal since Dec. 1 at Winnipeg.

”We try and battle and work hard every night. Tonight we found a way,” Gallant said. “We didn’t start the game off great. I thought the first eight minutes we were sloppy. But after that I thought we played a great game and a great road game. We found a way to get two big points.”

Karlsson put the Knights up 3-1 just 28 seconds into the third period. After a turnover in Anaheim’s zone, Jonathan Marchessault found Karlsson for his 17th goal, tying James Neal for the team lead.

Perron added an empty-net goal with 1:13 remaining.

The Knights, who are 3-0 against Anaheim, allowed five shots in the final period.

”Often I think after Christmas break, day of travel, three days off, it makes it tough to come out and play the first 10 minutes strong,” Eakin said. “But you just want to hang in there till you find your game.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.