The last time the Vegas Golden Knights were on the tail end of a back-to-back, it didn't end so well. The Utah Hockey Club blew Ilya Samsonov and company out of the water, scoring four goals in the first period. The game ended with a 6-0 Utah victory, leaving the T-Mobile Arena crowd stunned.
This time, William Karlsson and Shea Theodore made sure that wouldn't happen again. The two Golden Knights representatives for the 4 Nations Face-Off scored three combined goals (Theodore had two, Karlsson had one), contributing to a 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. Alexander Holtz also scored his second goal of 2024-25 from a set-up from Tanner Pearson and Tomas Hertl in the third period.
Meanwhile, Samsonov rebounded from his Saturday dud, stopping 19 of 20 shots. The Russian netminder outdueled veteran netminder John Gibson, who stopped 30 of 33 shots for the Ducks. Jackson LaCombe scored the only goal for the Ducks, notching his fourth of the year in the second period.
The Golden Knights improved their record to 17-7-3, bumping their point total to 37. The Ducks fell to 10-11-3, staying in last place in the Pacific Division. They also stay put with 23 points overall, only ahead of the Nashville Predators (20) and Chicago Blackhawks (18) in the Western Conference.
What's next for the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks?
The Vegas Golden Knights will return home for a Friday matchup against the Dallas Stars. It'll be the first game between the two teams since they met in May during the Stanley Cup playoffs. Pete DeBoer's squad won the first round matchup between both teams, taking the series in seven games.
The Anaheim Ducks will play one more home game on Friday against the Minnesota Wild. Then, they'll head to the Eastern Time Zone for a four-game road trip. That starts on Monday against the Montreal Canadiens, who are also last in their respective division (21 points in the Atlantic Division).
The Golden Knights improve their road record to 7-4-3, while the Ducks fall to 5-8-1 at the Honda Center. The Golden Knights are 7-1-2 in their last ten road games, continuing an impressive turnaround from their slow start away from T-Mobile Arena.
Golden Knights fans had a great day on Wednesday, receiving good news about the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off earlier. The news of seven players making the round-robin showcase was complimented with a good 4-1 victory over a division rival. You can say today was a good day in Las Vegas... and around the world.