𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

ANAHEIM, Calif. – In Game 4, the Anaheim Ducks showed that they’re not ready to have their fun return to the postseason end quietly.

Four different goal-scorers powered the Ducks and they never trailed in a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights at Honda Center on Sunday, which evened the second-round series 2-2. Game 5 is Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The Ducks got the first goal for only the third time in their 10 playoff games. Beckett Sennecke, a Calder Trophy finalist after a 23-goal, 60-point rookie season, gave them the lead at 8:43 of the first. Pavel Dorofeyev answered Sennecke’s power-play tally with one of his own on a rebound finish for a 1-1 tie.

Anaheim took the lead back late in the first as Mikael Granlund converted Jeffrey Viel’s setup pass when his shot was deflected by Vegas forward Cole Smith, but the resulting change-up appeared to fool Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart. The Knights forged another tie as William Karlsson took a hit to make a great pass to Brett Howden, who scored his team-leading seventh goal, which tied Minnesota’s Matt Boldy and Carolina’s Logan Stankoven for the playoff lead.

From there, the Ducks took charge. Alex Killorn scored Anaheim’s second power-play goal late in the middle period for a 3-2 lead. After a successful penalty kill to open the third, Ian Moore pushed the advantage to two goals with a successful shot from the point that found a hole between Hart’s blocker and right pad.

Tomas Hertl scored a late goal for Vegas.

Animosity ratcheted up

After a relatively calm first three games, the animosity on the ice was clearly elevated on Sunday night. It’s no surprise, given everything on the line, but there were noticeably more post-whistle scrums and hijinks in this one.

Vegas’ Dylan Coghlan and Anaheim’s Ross Johnston were each called for interference in the first period for playing the body away from the play. Golden Knights bruising defenseman Brayden McNabb went to the box for cross-checking Cutter Gauthier head-first into the boards behind the net, and Beckett Sennecke was called for cross-checking Nic Dowd just as the second period expired.

It’s the first playoff series between these sides, so it took some time for the temperature to heat up, but it clearly has, and it sets up a fascinating best-of-three series from this point on.

Ducks’ power play awakens

The Golden Knights didn’t back off from their physical play, which was particularly noticeable and effective in their Game 3 victory. This time, the Ducks made them pay for their misdeeds.

Vegas brought an air-tight penalty kill into Game 4, as it had erased 26 of 27 short-handed situations, including all 11 of Anaheim’s power plays in this series. The Ducks broke through with a power-play goal in each of the first two periods, taking advantage of an interference penalty by Dylan Coghlan and a slashing minor by Cole Smith.

It was the so-called second Ducks unit that did the damage. Sennecke scored for the third straight game as he beat Vegas goalie Carter Hart after the Ducks generated multiple cracks on their first advantage. Killorn then took the puck to the net in the second and flipped a puck through Hart.

Ducks’ lineup changes

The insertion of Mason McTavish back into the Anaheim lineup wasn’t the only notable change coach Joel Quenneville made for Game 4. Olen Zellweger made his first appearance in these playoffs and became the 15th different Ducks player to make his playoff debut. Zellweger had a contribution as well with a secondary assist on Moore’s goal.

Quenneville had gone with Tyson Hinds on the left side of his third defense pairing because of his size edge over the 5-foot-10 Zellweger, but with the Ducks only scoring six goals in the first three games and wanting a little more activation from the blue line, the 22-year-old’s speed and puck moving brings that element. The Ducks got their blueliners more involved offensively from the first minute.

Zellweger played 76 games for Anaheim during the regular season and had seven goals and 15 assists while averaging almost 17 minutes. He was paired with Moore, who was put back on defense after playing his first seven playoff games at right wing. Moore took the spot of Drew Helleson, whom Quenneville said is day to day with an undisclosed injury.

Tortorella goes Saad over Smith

With Mark Stone out with a lower-body injury, Vegas coach John Tortorella had to choose between veteran wingers Reilly Smith and Brandon Saad to replace him in the lineup. He went with Saad, who hadn’t seen action since April 11, over Smith, who played all six games in Vegas’ first-round series against Utah.

Saad hadn’t played since the regular season, but has 111 games of playoff experience over his nine-year career, including eight last season with Vegas. He had a relatively quiet night. There were a few times he was noticeable using his speed to get in on the forecheck, but he didn’t record a shot on goal.

Vegas’ third line of Saad, Tomas Hertl and Keegan Kolesar played the fewest minutes of any trio, and was outshot 4-1 by the Ducks.

Vegas’ top line struggles

The Golden Knights top line, centered by Jack Eichel, struggled to generate much of anything on Sunday night. They were without Stone, who was replaced on the left wing by Pavel Dorofeyev, and spent more time defending than attacking.

Statistically, Eichel has been fine in this postseason. He’s second on the team behind only Mitch Marner with 12 points, and had an assist in Game 4, but he has only scored once and hasn’t been impactful enough for Vegas at five-on-five.

The Golden Knights have survived without Eichel bringing his A-game to this point, mostly because Marner and Brett Howden have been so strong, but for this team to advance, they will eventually need him to be the puck-dominator that he’s proven to be in the past.