October 13, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Ilya Samsonov (35) defends his net against the Anaheim Ducks during the first period at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. sylvany-imagen images Ilya Samsonov made 22 saves in his first start for the Vegas Golden Knights, helping them earn a 3-1 win against the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night.
Brett Howden, Tomas Hertel and Pavel Dorofeyev scored and Keegan Kolesar had two assists for the Golden Knights, who have won three in a row to start the season for the third straight year.
Troy Terry scored for the Ducks, who won their season opener 2-0 at the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.
Anaheim goaltender James Reimer also made his team debut after being claimed off waivers from the Buffalo Sabers on Monday and made 29 saves.
Hertel scored a power-play goal at 5:18 of the third period to give Vegas a 2–1 lead.
Ducks center Isak Lundestrom broke his stick on a faceoff to start a power play in the Vegas zone end and Mark Stone prevented Anaheim from clearing the puck before Hertz centered it for a redirection.
Vegas increased its lead to 3–1 at 14:09 of the third period when Kolesar stole the puck from rookie defenseman Tristan Luneau in the Anaheim zone and sent the puck back to Dorofeyev for a wrist shot from the right circle.
The Golden Knights took a 1-0 lead at 6:17 minutes of the first period.
Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler briefly gained possession behind the Anaheim net, but Kolesar intercepted his backhand pass up the ice and fed Alex Pietrangelo in the slot. His shot was saved, but the puck fell into the crease and Howden was there to sweep it into the net before Reimer could react.
The Ducks tied the score at 1-1 in the first 11:49.
Ivan Barbashev had the puck at the left point and tried to feed Shea Theodore as he crossed the blue line, but Terry blocked him for a breakaway. Terry waited until he reached the inside edge of the right circle before beating Samsonov on the shortside.
–Field Level Media