Ducks rally late, lose on skills, in Vegas

On The Strip, the Anaheim Ducks trailed 1-4 in the third period before rallying with three unanswered goals on Friday to force their game with the Golden Knights to extra time and the skill portion of the evening’s affair.

The Golden Knights needed that skills session to defeat the Ducks, 5-4.

Ryan Getzlaf picked up an assist in the Ducks loss, his 988th point asa Duck, to tie the franchise record.

“He’s an old soul. He’s an incredible leader, and I think he’ll just take it right in stride,” Ducks head coach Dallas Eakins said. “I think he’ll only quietly have a smile about it. I don’t think it’ll hit home to him what that really means until years after he’s done playing.”

He is now only 12 points shy of 1,000 points, not yet accomplished by any Ducks player.

“Personally, that’s one of the coolest things I think I’ve been a part of for another individual,” the Ducks’ Trevor Zegras (goal) said. “What he brings to this team is more than any one person. And to just be a small piece of his unbelievable career is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

Evgenii Dadonov was credited with the Knights’ deciding goal in the skills competition.

Vegas improved to 4-4-0.

“This was a huge week for us,” Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer said. “We were staring at an absolutely disastrous start. I thought guys dug deep all week to get us back to .500 here.”

Robin Lehner made 34 saves in the Vegas win.

Reilly Smith and Nicolas Hague gave the Knights a 2-0 lead in the first period.

“Even though we were getting terribly outplayed in the first, ‘Gibby’ put on a performance like I haven’t seen in a while,” Eakins said. “I think that’s probably the best hockey I’ve ever seen in that first period.”

After Zegras scored to pull Anaheim within one goal, Chandler Stephenson scored for 3-1 Vegas lead.

William Carrier pushed the Vegas lead to 4-1 in the third period ahead of the Ducks rally.

“You can’t let a team come back from 4-1,” the Golden Knights’ Johnathan Marchessault said. “It’s disappointing, but we’ll take the win.”

Troy Terry, Isac Lundestrom, and Adam Henrique rallied the Ducks to get the game to extra time.