3 Things to Watch: Ducks at Golden Knights, Game 1 of Western Conference 2nd Round

(3P) Ducks at (1P) Golden Knights

Western Conference Second Round, Game 1

Monday, 9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN360, SN, TVAS

LAS VEGAS -- The Anaheim Ducks feel fine as underdogs against the Vegas Golden Knights entering Game 1 of the Western Conference Second Round at T-Mobile Arena on Monday.

“(There’s) not a ton of people probably picking us to win the series,” Anaheim forward Alex Killorn said, “but we like to be in that position.”

The Ducks are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2018, and they won a series for the first time since 2017 by defeating the Edmonton Oilers in six games in the first round. The Oilers had reached the Stanley Cup Final each of the past two years.

Now the Ducks face the Golden Knights, who are in the playoffs for the eighth time in nine seasons since entering the NHL as an expansion team in 2017-18. Vegas has won 66 games and 13 series, tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the most in the NHL in each category in that span. The Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in 2023.

The Golden Knights will get a big boost with forward William Karlsson returning to the lineup. He has been out of the lineup with a lower-body injury since Nov. 8. 

Anaheim went 3-0-0 against Vegas in the regular season and finished only three points behind in the Pacific Division. But each game was 4-3, and two games went to overtime.

The Ducks haven’t played the Golden Knights since John Tortorella stepped behind the Vegas bench March 29, either. The Golden Knights finished the regular season on a 7-0-1 run and defeated the Utah Mammoth in six games in the first round.

“It looks like they’ve got a little more pace,” Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville said. “They look like they’re playing well. They had a good series. They had a good run at the end of the year as well, so they’ve got the momentum going right now. We’ve seen these guys play a lot of hockey -- when I say that, winning hockey in the playoffs. They know the recipe, and so that’s going to be the challenge.

“I think that we can learn. We learned a little bit in our last series. Some of our younger guys got some exposure that we’re happy to see, and I thought they played well, and I think the momentum and enthusiasm from winning that series helped us in the last couple days, just being around it. We’re excited about looking forward to this challenge.”

Killorn sounded confident.

“We feel like we’re a fast team,” he said. “We’re a physical team, maybe not as big of an underdog as people some people would expect. I know a lot of our players don’t have a ton of playoff experience, but in the short amount of time that we’ve played, they’ve done really well with it.”

Here are three things to watch in Game 1:

1. Team USA

Each team is led in scoring by a player who won gold for the United States at the Olympics in Milan in February. Vegas center Jack Eichel and Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe each has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in six games.

Eichel is an established star and Stanley Cup champion who played a huge role for the Americans. This is more of a coming out party for LaCombe, who didn’t play as an injury replacement at the Olympics and is in his first NHL playoff run.

LaCombe can tie Joe Micheletti for the fewest games by a defenseman to 10 career playoff points in NHL history. Micheletti had 10 points (one goal, nine assists) for the St. Louis Blues in 1981.

The 25-year-old also can reach 10 career playoff points faster than any skater in Ducks history. Hockey Hall of Fame forward Paul Kariya had 10 points (six goals, four assists) in eight games in 1997.

2. Special teams

Anaheim went 8-for-16 on the power play against Edmonton, while going 10-for-14 on the penalty kill with a shorthanded goal.

Vegas went 4-for-20 on the power play against Utah, while going 15-for-16 on the penalty kill with two shorthanded goals.

“They have some really high-end skill players that make great plays, especially in big moments,” Killorn said. “We don’t want to get into a PK/power-play battle with any team, and especially not Vegas.”

Neither team takes many penalties. Anaheim (6:30) ranks first in fewest average penalty minutes in the playoffs. Vegas (8:20) ranks third.

3. Comebacks

In the regular season, the Ducks had 26 comeback wins, tying the Montreal Canadiens for the most in the NHL. Two came against the Golden Knights. They also had 12 third-period comeback wins, the most in the League.

The Golden Knights had 21 comeback wins and 10 third-period comeback wins.

In the first round, Anaheim and Vegas each had three comeback wins, tied for the most among the 16 teams.

The Golden Knights had three third-period comeback wins, more than any other team. The Ducks had one too.

“Anything can happen,” Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “You’re never really out of it, right?”

Ducks projected lineup

Cutter Gauthier -- Leo Carlsson -- Troy Terry

Alex Killorn -- Mikael Granlund -- Beckett Sennecke

Chris Kreider  -- Ryan Poehling -- Mason McTavish 

Jeffrey Viel -- Tim Washe -- Ian Moore

Jackson LaCombe -- Jacob Trouba

Pavel Mintyukov -- John Carlson

Tyson Hinds -- Drew Helleson

Lukas Dostal

Ville Husso

Scratched: Frank Vatrano, Olen Zellweger, Jansen Harkins, Ross Johnston

Injured: Radko Gudas (lower body)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Pavel Dorofeyev

Brett Howden -- Mitch Marner -- Mark Stone

Tomas Hertl -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith

Cole Smith -- Nic Dowd -- Colton Sissons

Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore

Noah Hanifin -- Rasmus Andersson

Jeremy Lauzon -- Kaedan Korczak

Carter Hart

Adin Hill

Scratched: Ben Hutton, Brandon Saad, Akira Schmid,  Keegan Kolesar

Injured: Jonas Rondbjerg (lower body)

Status report

Terry has a maintenance day, but will play. Karlsson practiced Thursday and Sunday. Coach John Tortorella announced on Monday he will play for the first time since Nov. 8. 

NHL.com independent correspondent Paul Delos Santos contributed