Knights face surprising Ducks in battle of top Pacific Division teams

It’s been some time since the Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks played a game that felt important. But the two teams enter Saturday’s showdown at T-Mobile Arena in second and first place, respectively, in the Pacific Division standings.

The Knights (7-3-3) will attempt to bounce back from Thursday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, while the surprising Ducks (9-3-1) will try to extend their winning streak to six games.

“Right now, that’s a team coming in here feeling really good about themselves,” coach Bruce Cassidy said.

The Knights have dominated the Pacific Division since entering the NHL in 2017. The Ducks have been an almost constant disappointment, finishing sixth or worse in each of the last seven seasons.

Anaheim hasn’t made the playoffs since the Knights’ inaugural campaign.

Youth movement

The Ducks, thanks to all that losing, have been able to build through the draft.

Center Leo Carlsson, 20, leads the team with 20 points in 13 games. Left wing Cutter Gauthier, 21, is tied for the NHL lead with 11 goals. Center Mason McTavish, 22, has 10 points.

Four of Anaheim’s defensemen — Drew Helleson, Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov — are 24-years-old or younger.

“They’re a good team,” said defenseman Shea Theodore, who the Knights acquired from the Ducks in the 2017 expansion draft. “They have a lot of young, fast, big skill in there.”

Anaheim hired coach Joel Quenneville this offseason to develop its young talent.

Quenneville, 67, won three Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks but hasn’t coached in the NHL since 2021. He resigned from the Florida Panthers and was banned from the league for almost three years due to his handling of a 2010 sexual assault scandal involving former Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich and prospect Kyle Beach.

Don’t forget the vets

The Ducks have added proven veterans to complement their core.

Anaheim traded for defenseman Jacob Trouba in December and acquired left wing Chris Kreider this offseason. Kreider has provided extra punch to an offense that’s averaging the most goals per game (4.15) in the NHL.

Anaheim has also gotten quality goaltending from 25-year-old Lukas Dostal, who has taken over for longtime netminder John Gibson after Gibson was traded to the Detroit Red Wings this summer.

Dostal is 7-3-1 with a .904 save percentage and 2.81 goals-against average.

“It’s a tough game against a tough team this early in the season,” Theodore said. “It’s one that you get up for and hopefully try to build your game.”

Need scoring help

The Ducks are getting contributions from different spots in the lineup. The Knights are trying to find that.

They need offense from their role players. Left wing Ivan Barbashev has scored three of the Knights’ last four goals. Right wing Mitch Marner has the other one.

Center William Karlsson has just six points in 13 games. Linemate Reilly Smith hasn’t scored since his overtime winner against the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 9.

“We have to even out the scoring a little bit,” Karlsson said. “It was just the first line that scored goals (Thursday). Us other lines have to chip in. It’s important.”

Cassidy added he’d like to see more secondary scoring from the defense. Theodore, who had a career-high 57 points last season, has five assists. No other defenseman has more than three points.

Kaedan Korczak is the only blue liner with a goal.

Noah Hanifin has been the Knights’ best defenseman the last two games since returning from a lower-body injury. He picked up an assist on Barbashev’s first goal Thursday. Cassidy feels Hanifin’s return can spark more offense from the back end.

Part of that starts with getting pucks to the net from the point.

“When it does arrive on time, I think we’ve scored some goals on rebounds,” Cassidy said. “I think that’s a little bit of the problem right now, is the connection between the puck getting there, the forwards being there and tippable pucks. I think we can do a much better job in that area of the o-zone.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.