Ducks score 4 in 1st, hand Golden Knights 4th straight loss

ANAHEIM -- The Anaheim Ducks scored four goals in the first period of a 5-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at Honda Center on Wednesday.

Brett Leason scored two goals for the first time in the NHL, Mason McTavish had three assists, and Cam Fowler had two assists for the Ducks (13-21-0), who had lost the first two of an eight-game homestand. John Gibson made 30 saves.

"We have a good team here," Leason said. "I think we can get some wins. We've been a bit unlucky with some (losses), lots of one-goal defeats, but I think we're a good team and we can compete."

Alec Martinez and Mark Stone scored for the Golden Knights (21-10-5), who have lost four straight in regulation for the first time since March 8-15, 2022 (lost five in a row). Logan Thompson made 21 saves after missing the previous two games with an upper-body injury.

Vegas was playing again without goalie Adin Hill, who missed his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury.

"Right now, 'Hilly' is hurt and there's an opportunity for Logan Thompson and Jiri Patera," Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We've got to play better in front of them, and they've got to play better for us. It's a combination of both things."  

Leason gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead at 3:23 of the first period with a redirection of Fowler's point shot.

Jamie Drysdale made it 2-0 at 8:23. He took a pass from McTavish as the trailer on a 3-on-3 rush and scored with a wrist shot short side from the top of the right circle.

It was Drysdale's first goal since March 31, 2022.

"Crazy play by him," Drysdale said of McTavish. "I know he saw me earlier, we locked eyes for what felt like five or six seconds before, and then he somehow managed to slide it over."

Frank Vatrano pushed it to 3-0 at 11:38 when he scored with a one-timer from the left circle off a backhand pass from behind the net by McTavish.

"We didn't check well in certain situations," Cassidy said. "Vatrano's goal from below the goal line, that's something we pre-scouted and they're able to make those plays. They're good at it. We've got to defend that better."

Troy Terry made it 4-0 at 12:18 of the first, scoring five-hole from the right circle off a drop pass by Alex Killorn on a rush. Trevor Zegras started the play by intercepting a pass by Jonathan Marchessault in the neutral zone.

"We turned the puck over in the neutral zone and it comes back at us," Cassidy said. "So there's some mistakes, but you also need saves."

Martinez made it 4-1 at 7:23 of the second period. He scored with a one-timer off a pass from Paul Cotter after the Ducks turned the puck over coming through the neutral zone.

Stone cut it to 4-2 at 12:34, scoring a power-play goal with a one-timer from the left hash marks off a pass by William Karlsson from the left post.

"Some of the penalties we took took some of the steam out of us," Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. "I think it gave them a lot of energy."

Leason, who lost his stick on Stone's power-play goal, responded to make it 5-2 at 17:45 on a rebound in the slot.

Vegas has allowed 20 goals during its losing streak.

"We've got to figure this out," Martinez said. "As a team, you look at the last four, five, six games, giving up four-plus goals, that's not what we do. I think that's a lack of attention to detail, not playing a team game. I think we've been disconnected. I think we've got to play more together as five and support each other all over the ice."

NOTES: Anaheim previously scored four goals in the third period of a 4-2 win against Vegas on Nov. 5. ... Stone extended his road point streak to eight games (four goals five assists). He has 15 points in his past 10 games overall (five goals, 10 assists). ... Golden Knights forward William Carrier missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury. ... Vegas went 1-for-5 on the power play. Anaheim was 0-for-1.