The Ducks haven’t played the Golden Knights since John Tortorella took over as coach 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 Team USA 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 United States. 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 short-handed 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.
