Anaheim Ducks coach Greg Cronin had the perfect pep talk for his team entering the third period of Sunday night’s game against the Utah Hockey Club in Salt Lake City.
“I told them that the dads are here and they’ve come a long ways to watch you play,” Cronin said. “Let’s finish this off and get a win.”
Anaheim, which trailed 4-1 in the second period and 4-2 entering the third, did just that, rallying for a 5-4 shootout victory.
The win no doubt made the Ducks’ post-game flight to Las Vegas for Monday night’s game with the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights all the more enjoyable.
“It’s awesome,” said Anaheim’s Brett Leason, who roofed a shot from the high slot to forge a 4-4 tie vs. Utah with 4:45 left in regulation. “They do so much for us growing up, and having all the dads here is special. I don’t think we won one (game) last time when they came … so it was nice to get a win for them.”
“I’m sure they’ll be pretty pumped up to see us after this game,” added Robby Fabbri, who scored two goals for the 10th multi-goal game of his career.
Anaheim could make it a truly memorable trip for everyone involved with a victory Monday vs. a Vegas team that has feasted on the Ducks.
The Golden Knights are 26-7-1 all-time against Anaheim, with a plus-49 goal differential. That includes a 14-3-0 mark at T-Mobile Arena.
Vegas is vying for a four-game regular-season sweep of the Ducks, having outscored them 10-4. Defenseman Shea Theodore scored twice and Ilya Samsonov made 19 saves to lead visiting Vegas to a 4-1 win in the most recent meeting on Dec. 4.
The Golden Knights, who are a Pacific Division-best 13-3-0 at home, also have dominated their Western Conference foes this season, compiling an 18-3-2 record. That includes a 6-2 victory over Seattle on Saturday for their third straight win.
Mark Stone scored a goal and set up two others and Jack Eichel added two assists to lead the latest comeback victory against the Kraken.
After allowing a power-play goal to Seattle defenseman Vince Dunn at 2:34 of the first period, Vegas answered with three goals over a 5:19 span to cruise to its seventh victory in the last eight games.
“Well, we’re certainly comfortable being down 1-0,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said when asked about his team’s resiliency. “It tells me that which I’m less comfortable with because I didn’t like our start. It’s something we’re trying to address.”
Cassidy said his team is aware that falling behind to begin games is not a good habit for a squad that has visons of winning a second Stanley Cup.
“We don’t want it to be a thing all year,” Cassidy said. “It’s becoming one, so we’ve got to be really careful with that. But at the end of the day, it’s good when your team doesn’t panic, and it has composure late in games to put games away.”
–Field Level Media
