A disputed officiating decision in the final minutes helped propel the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-1 triumph over the Anaheim Ducks in Monday night’s opening game of their Western Conference second-round playoff matchup in Las Vegas.
Ivan Barbashev netted what proved to be the decisive score with 4:58 left on the clock, but the goal sparked heated controversy due to a waived-off icing call that preceded the play.
The sequence unfolded when Barbashev sent the puck deep from beyond center ice. Anaheim’s players, including defenseman Jackson LaCombe who was providing a screen on Jack Eichel, eased up expecting an icing whistle. Instead, officials allowed play to continue, enabling Pavel Dorofeyev to feed Barbashev, who buried a shot from close range on the left side.
Anaheim head coach Joel Quenneville expressed his frustration with the officiating. “Clearly I disagreed with the call,” Quenneville stated. “It was clearly icing, but their guy (Jack Eichel) stopped, which really made me annoyed.”
Vegas coach John Totorella offered a different perspective. “I didn’t see it,” Totorella explained. “I was blocked. I didn’t see it, so I don’t know what to tell you.”
Carter Hart delivered an outstanding performance between the pipes for Vegas, turning aside 33 of 34 shots. Mitch Marner contributed both a goal and an assist, while Brett Howden also found the back of the net for the Golden Knights, who now hold a commanding 28-8-3 all-time record against Anaheim, including 16-3-1 on home ice.
For the Ducks, Mikael Granlund managed their lone goal while goaltender Lukas Dostal made 19 stops in the losing effort.
The series continues Wednesday night in Las Vegas for Game 2 of the best-of-seven contest.
Vegas opened the scoring at 3:14 of the middle frame, shortly after Anaheim’s Troy Terry struck iron with a wrist shot from the right side. Howden, who managed just 12 goals during 58 regular season contests, recorded his fifth tally in seven playoff appearances by deflecting Marner’s cross-ice feed through traffic.
The Ducks missed a golden opportunity to level the score midway through the second period. Leo Carlsson created a spectacular spinning feed to LaCombe, who found himself alone near the right circle. However, LaCombe, despite leading Anaheim with nine points in their first-round victory over Edmonton, opted to pass rather than shoot at the vacant net, sending the puck to Terry in front. The opportunity slipped away when the puck eluded Terry’s stick.
“We had a great chance with (LaCombe),” Quenneville reflected. “I didn’t have to say anything to him. I think we all knew we’d like to have that one back.”
Anaheim managed to even things up with 6:03 remaining in regulation when LaCombe skated down the left side and set up Granlund, who fired home a wrist shot for his third playoff marker.
The tie lasted merely 65 seconds before Barbashev’s controversial winner sent the Ducks bench into an uproar over the missed icing call.
When asked about receiving any clarification from the officials, Quenneville was blunt. “No. I did not,” he said. “I was just upset at the call at the time, but that was the play for me. We had just scored. It was a huge call, and an easy call.”
Anaheim pulled Dostal for an extra skater with 1:55 on the clock, but Marner put the game away with an empty-net goal from end to end with just six seconds left.
