Ducks build early four-goal lead, hold off late rally by Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS -- The Anaheim Ducks jumped out to a four-goal lead before holding off a late rally by the Vegas Golden Knights for a 4-3 victory at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.

Leo Carlsson had a goal and an assist, and Beckett Sennecke, Alex Killorn and Jeff Malott also scored for the Ducks in their season opener. Lukas Dostal made 27 saves.

“First one done, 83 more to go,” Dostal said. “They’re a really good team. They can turn it on, and they played the right way for 60 minutes. They’re really hard to play against, but I’m proud of our group because I thought our guys were unbelievable. They played really well with a lot of blocked shots.”

Shea Theodore, Tomas Hertl and Braeden Bowman scored, and Jack Eichel had two assists for the Golden Knights. Carter Hart made 16 saves.

Vegas opened the season with a 5-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.

“You give yourself credit for fighting back, but you never want to put yourself in those situations,” Golden Knights captain Mark Stone said. “You’re never going to see this team quit. That’s why we’ve had some playoff success, regular-season success, as a team. We don’t quit. We continue to push. But when you get down in a hole 4-0, you’re not going to come back very often.”

Sennecke gave the Ducks 1-0 lead at 19:52 of the first period. Shortly after a Golden Knights power play ended, Carlsson sent a lead pass to Sennecke, who got behind the defense and lifted a shot past Hart on a breakaway.

“I was so tired,” Carlsson said. “I really didn’t think much. So I’m all alone, I tried to pass it as hard as I could in the air, and ended up being perfect.”

Killorn redirected a Noah Warren point shot at the edge of the right face-off circle at 1:33 of the second period to push the lead to 2-0.

It was the first career point for Warren, who was making his NHL debut.

“He was great,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said of Warren. “He looked good in the offensive point. Getting that shot through was a nice tip by ‘Killer,’ and I thought a lot of good things as far as his reach and his killing plays.”

Malott extended it to 3-0 just 55 seconds later at 2:28. Tim Washe deflected Jackson LaCombe's shot from the left point, and the puck then deflected off Malott's right skate from the low slot through the five-hole.

Carlsson pushed the lead to 4-0 at 7:03. Hart made the initial save on a A.J. Greer shot, but he was then caught out of position, allowing Carlsson to put the rebound into an open net.

Theodore cut the deficit to 4-1 at 4:38 of the third period, beating Dostal to the far post from the right dot. Anaheim challenged the play for offside, but the goal was upheld after a video review.

“They said the puck was out, and that’s what we were concerned about,” Quenneville said. “They said they tagged up, so we got to look at it. I hadn’t looked at that part of it. My fault.”

Hertl made it 4-2 on the ensuing power play at 6:07, finishing in close by banking the puck in off the right post.

Bowman got the Golden Knights to within 4-3 at 17:10 after finding a loose puck in the low slot during a scramble and putting it past Dostal.

“The challenge obviously helped us,” Golden Knights coach Ryan Craig said. “We got two goals there at that point. I really thought that was something we needed. … The early goal gave us some life. We were to get going after that. When we were one play away at the end in the blue paint from tying it up, down by four, it’s hard to come back. Proud of our guys for the effort and the urgency.”

NOTES: Greer was making his Ducks debut. He was acquired in a trade with the Florida Panthers on June 29 and signed a four-year contract on July 1. ... Anaheim forward Judd Caulfield was plus-1 in 13:17 of ice time in his NHL debut.