Preview: Ducks @ Golden Knights (1/82) - A New Hope

Recent Performance

The Anaheim Ducks have not yet played a game this season, and are one of the last teams to get started on their 2023-24 NHL campaign. Vegas has already played twice and is 2-0-0 after winning their home opener handily against the Seattle Kraken and following that with a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center.

Players to Watch

Anaheim Ducks - It’s the first game of the season, so there will be plenty to keep an eye on, particularly with a new coach and brand-new systems. I’ll be keeping an eye on Pavel Mintyukov in his NHL debut, personally. He has looked fantastic so far in training camp and preseason and looks to be ready to make an immediate impact on a Ducks blue line that struggled heavily last season.

Vegas Golden Knights - As the defending Stanley Cup Champions, they naturally have quite a few threats (Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Ivan Barbashev, etc) that the Ducks will need to keep an eye on. Chandler Stephenson has had a great start to the season, however, tallying a goal and an assist in the first two games for the Golden Knights and he’s the type of player that would give the Ducks of the past couple of years fits. I’m curious to see how the Ducks handle his line and will be keeping a close eye on him tonight.

Stat Pack

Introducing a new summary view this season to help those who don’t follow every team in the league understand how the teams match up against each other and what might be a few keys to think about. (This will obviously become more dynamic and useful as teams play more games and the numbers/team leaders start to formulate more clearly)

Stats are courtesy of Evolving Hockey and NHL.com

prediction

Vegas will likely be ready to go when the puck drops tonight, seeing as this is their third game of the season and the rust has been shaken off. The banner ceremony hangover didn’t seem to affect them against Seattle and San Jose might not be good enough to bring it out of them. I think the Ducks keep this game exciting and end up scraping a well-earned point out of the contest. I’ll say 4-3 Golden Knights in OT.