Recap: Ducks Ride Big First Period to 5-2 Victory Over Vegas

Brett Leason scored twice as 11 different Ducks found the scoresheet in a 5-2 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights tonight at Honda Center.

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With the win, Anaheim improved to 13-21-0 on the season and 1-2-0 headed to the midway mark of an eight-game holiday homestand.

The Ducks also moved to 2-1-0 against the Golden Knights this season, earning a pair of wins on home ice against the division rival. Anaheim and Vegas will cap their four-game season series on the final day of the 2023-24 regular, Apr. 18 at T-Mobile Arena.

Leason opened and closed the scoring for Anaheim in his first career NHL multi-goal game. Troy Terry, Jamie Drysdale and Frank Vatrano also scored. Mason McTavish tallied three assists for the second time in his NHL career, while Cam Fowler, Ilya Lyubushkin, Trevor Zegras and Ryan Strome each added helpers as well.

Making his first start since the birth of his third child earlier this month, John Gibson earned the win in net, turning aside 30-of-32 Vegas shots.

Alec Martinez and Mark Stone scored for the Golden Knights, who dropped their third straight game and fifth of their last six contests. Logan Thompson took the loss in net with 21 stops.

The first period was all Anaheim from beginning to end, as the Ducks claimed a four-goal lead in the game's first 12 minutes.

Leason opened the scoring just over three minutes after puck drop, working his way to the slot and deflecting Fowler's point down off the ice and then back over Thompson's right leg pad.

The goal, Leason's fifth of the season, set a new career high in points (5-5=10) for the second-year Ducks winger. He also tied his career high in goals later in the game.

Fowler's two assists on the night moved him within one point of matching Steve Rucchin for fifth-most (432) in Ducks history.

Henrique has six points in his last five games and is now two points shy of 500 for his NHL career.

Drysdale then doubled the Anaheim advantage with a well-placed snapshot off the rush, taking a cross-seam pass by McTavish and beating Thompson low to the glove side.

The goal was Drysdale's first since March 2022, as the former sixth overall pick has missed much of the last year-and-a-half with injuries. This season, he's found the scoresheet in three of his first five appearances. 

With the secondary helper, Strome tied rookie defenseman Pavel Mintyukov for the team lead in assists (16) this season.

Vatrano made it 3-0 a few shifts later as the finisher on a nice setup dish by McTavish, finding some free space in the slot and quickly one-timing the short pass past Thompson from down low.

With two assists in the opening frame, McTavish snapped a six-game scoreless drought and secured his 15th career multi-point performance.

Lyubushkin's assist marked his fourth point as a Duck.

Terry capped the four-goal outburst with another goal off the rush on right wing, this one sneaking through Thompson's five-hole after a slight deflection on the way by a Vegas defender.

Terry now has points in four of his last five games (3-3=6), including two multi-point efforts. He's now two points shy of 200 for his NHL career. 

The secondary assist gave Zegras points in consecutive games since returning from a lower-body injury.

In total, 11 different Ducks collected a point in the first period. 

Martinez put Vegas on the board midway through the middle frame, converting a centering pass from Cotter sprinting down left wing after an Anaheim neutral zone turnover.

Stone then cut the deficit to two with a power-play goal, like Martinez finishing off a centering from deep in the Anaheim zone. 

Anaheim has had at least two fewer power-play opportunities than their opponents in five of their last seven games - and at least three fewer in four of those contests. 

But just when it seemed like Vegas was earning back some momentum, Leason buried a massive insurance marker for Anaheim. With linemates changing behind him, McTavish through the puck on net off the rush from distance, but Thompson could not corral the rebound, which Leason squeezed between the goaltender's arm and torso to put Anaheim ahead 5-2 after two.

The rebound tally marked Leason's first career multi-goal game in the NHL, while McTavish's assist clinched his third three-point night of the season.

The teams would then skate to a scoreless third period, much to the chagrin of the hosts, as despite a couple more Vegas power plays, the Golden Knights could not eat into Anaheim's sizable late lead.

The Ducks continue an eight-game homestand Friday against Arizona.