The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 on Monday night to win the first game of their playoff series. While the game was close, a late decision by the referees became the main talking point. With about five minutes left and the score tied 1-1, Ivan Barbashev hit the puck into the Ducks’ end.
The Anaheim players slowed down because they thought the referees would whistle for “icing.” Instead, the officials let the play continue. Vegas took advantage of the confusion, and Barbashev scored the winning goal just seconds later.
Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville was very upset after the game. He called it an “easy” decision that the refs got wrong. The Ducks felt they were treated unfairly, especially since they had just tied the game a minute earlier when Mikael Granlund scored.
Even though Anaheim took more shots during the game, they could not get many pucks past Vegas goalie Carter Hart. Hart was the hero for the Golden Knights, making 33 saves to keep his team in the lead.
The game started slowly, with neither team scoring in the first period. In the second period, Brett Howden scored for Vegas to give them a 1-0 lead. Anaheim had a great chance to score when Leo Carlsson made a fancy pass to Jackson LaCombe, but the Ducks couldn’t finish the play.
After the controversial goal by Barbashev in the third period, Mitch Marner added a final goal into an empty net to seal the 3-1 win for Vegas. This win gives the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. They have a very strong record at home against the Ducks, winning 16 out of their last 20 games in Las Vegas.
The two teams will meet again for Game 2 on Wednesday night. The Ducks will need to find a way to score more goals and move past their frustration with the referees if they want to even the series.
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