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LAS VEGAS – Ryan Craig got what he wanted when he said he needed the Vegas Golden Knights to start on time. They just didn’t start on time in the second period, and it cost them.
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The Knights nearly climbed out of a four-goal hole, but couldn’t complete the comeback in a 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.
Defenseman Shea Theodore and center Tomas Hertl scored twice in two minutes, 29 seconds, and forward Braeden Bowman made it a one-goal game with 2:50 left.
Goaltender Carter Hart finished with 16 saves. The Knights (1-1-0) opened the season with a two-game split at home after winning 5-2 against Chicago on Tuesday.
Anaheim center Leo Carlsson had a goal and an assist in his first game since signing a five-year, $90 million contract in the offseason as a restricted free agent.
You know who could have used Carlsson in their first two games? The Philadelphia Flyers, the team that signed Carlsson to that massive offer sheet at $18 million a year.
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Maybe the Flyers knew what they were doing, because Carlsson played like an $18 million player. His line not only welcomed the matchup with Jack Eichel’s line, but dominated it.
Anaheim also benefited from pristine goaltending from Lukas Dostal. The last of his eight saves in the first period led to Ducks forward Beckett Sennecke getting behind the defense in the final seconds.
Carlsson sprung Sennecke for a breakaway with 7.7 seconds remaining, beating Hart glove side for a 1-0 lead.
It didn’t get any better in the second period.
Anaheim tacked on three goals in a span of five minutes, 30 seconds. Forward Alex Killorn scored on a deflection at 1:33. Fourth-line winger Jeff Malott was credited with a goal 55 seconds later following defenseman Jackson LaCombe’s shot that deflected three times before going in.
Carlsson capped it at 7:03 with an open-cage goal after Hart made two crucial saves following a turnover from defenseman Brayden McNabb.
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Dostal finished with 26 saves.
Eichel had two assists to give him five points in two games.
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