Mason McTavish scored, and John Gibson made 34 saves for Anaheim, which was playing its season opener.
“We played hard. I'm not disappointed with the effort. The execution got sloppy,” said Ducks coach Greg Cronin, who was making his NHL coaching debut. “That was a game of inches, for me, on puck battles a number of times, and they won those battles. They're a veteran team, they know how to win, they make the right plays and they execute. But I'm proud of the way that the guys played. They played hard, and we have to package that up and do it again tomorrow (against the Carolina Hurricanes).”
Eichel gave Vegas a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal with 1.3 seconds remaining in the first period. He skated into the zone and put the puck between Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas before tucking a shot past Gibson’s left pad.
“I saw there was about 13 seconds. I tried to get another attack in,” Eichel said. “I was just trying to get to the net knowing there’s not a lot of time. Couple of fortuitus bounces and it was a good goal.”
Stephenson made it 2-0 at 15:03 of the second period, tapping the puck into an open net off a pass from Cotter on a rush.
Cotter was playing on the second line with Stephenson and Mark Stone for the second straight game with Brett Howden serving a two-game suspension.
“Heck of a play he made,” Stephenson said. “I didn’t have to do much. It’s been nice to see him bloom and come into his own here. He’s going to get more trust in the coaches, and he’s a good player.”