The Ducks and Golden Knights open their playoff series on Monday
By Matt Severance May 4, 2026 at 9:03 am ET • 4 min read
USATSI The Western Conference semifinal NHL playoff series between the Ducks and Golden Knights starts tonight from Las Vegas. While Anaheim was 3-0 in the regular-season series, I like the home side to jump out to a 1-0 lead as at this stage you have to lean toward the more veteran group. At least in the opener.
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FanDuel same-game parlay (+105)
- Golden Knights Money Line
- Alt Under 7.5
We could understand if Game 1 is a bit of a letdown for Anaheim after it upset Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers in Round 1 – finishing with a home 5-2 win in Game 6 on Thursday. There is no doubt the Ducks are on their way to being a West powerhouse, with tons of young talent.
For example, Cutter Gauthier (22 years, 101 days on Thursday) became the third-youngest player in Ducks history to score a series-clinching goal. He also was the first Ducks player with a multi-point performance in a potential clinching game since Cam Fowler and Jakob Silfverberg in 2015. Jackson LaCombe, 25, had nine points in the series, tying for the most points by a Ducks defenseman in their first career playoff series. With a point tonight (-150 for one), LaCombe would tie Joe Micheletti (seven games) for the fewest games by a defenseman to 10 career postseason points in Stanley Cup playoff history.
Anaheim has the right mix of veterans, too – maybe I'm starting to talk myself out of this play. LOL. Former Ranger Chris Kreider scored his 49th career playoff goal Thursday and is one shy of becoming the sixth U.S.-born player in NHL history with 50. The only others to achieve that are Joe Pavelski (74), Joe Mullen (60), Mike Modano (58), Jeremy Roenick (53) and Patrick Kane (53). Kreider is +400 to score tonight. Former Capital John Carlson became only the fifth Ducks defenseman with at least five assists in a series – joining LaCombe.
It's a fun team to watch; It's where I wish my Blackhawks were in their rebuild. The Ducks were a stellar 8-for-16 in the first round on the power play, but Edmonton isn't very disciplined. And I don't think Anaheim's Lukas Dostal is a Stanley Cup-caliber goalie. He had a 3.87 goals-against average in the Oilers series, with an .874 save percentage. That may have been good enough against an Edmonton team with even worse goaltending but surely won't be good enough against a much deeper Vegas club.
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The Golden Knights finished off Utah in Game 6 on Friday with a 5-1 road win. Jack Eichel had a big series with a goal and eight assists, tying his own team mark for most assists in a playoff series. Mitch Marner had two goals and five assists in the series, and Friday was the first multi-goal playoff game for him since April 20, 2023 with Toronto against Tampa Bay. Brett Howden found the net for a third straight game and is +320 to score in this one. Four playoff games in a row with a goal would tie the team record. Howden only had 12 regular-season goals.
Vegas had three third-period comeback wins in that series, tied for the most by one team in a single series in Stanley Cup playoff history. The last to do it was Dallas in Round 1 of 2025. The Golden Knights are 66-46 through their first 112 games in the playoffs, tied for most wins by any franchise since the club's first postseason appearance in 2018.
I'm not sure if the Knights' Carter Hart is a Stanley Cup-caliber goalie, either, and I'd certainly take Colorado over either of these two in the West Finals if that's the case. Vegas is 12-7 all-time in Game 1s, though, the highest win percentage in series-openers in Stanley Cup playoff history (minimum five played).
Yes, the Ducks took all three regular-season meetings, and all by the same 4-3 score, with two going to overtime. But all those games were before Vegas replaced coach Bruce Cassidy with John Tortorella, and the Knights have simply been different since that move. Hart also had not taken over as the No. 1 goalie in any of those; he didn't face Anaheim at all. This marks the first-ever (but perhaps the first of many) playoff meetings between the Pacific Division rivals.
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The nice thing about this one is that the overall total is set at 6.5, so we didn't have to spend too much to punch that up to 7.5. We could see 4-3 again, but this time in favor of Vegas. I believe I was 4-0 on NHL SGPs in this space last week. Hopefully, I didn't just jinx it. Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.
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