NHL: Contentious third-period goal carries Knights past Ducks in Game 1

Ivan Barbashev scored a controversial go-ahead goal with 4:58 remaining in the third period, lifting the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 1 of their Western Conference second-round playoff series on Monday in Las Vegas.

The decisive play developed after Vegas regained possession in the right corner. Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who was screening Jack Eichel, and several Ducks players appeared to ease up while anticipating an icing call on a puck sent in from behind the red line. However, officials waived off icing at the last moment.

Pavel Dorofeyev quickly moved the puck across to Barbashev, who fired a rising shot from the left side of the crease to put Vegas ahead for good.

Brett Howden opened the scoring for the Golden Knights at the 3:14 mark of the second period, redirecting Mitch Marner’s cross-ice pass inside the left post. Anaheim’s Troy Terry had earlier hit the post on a wrist shot, nearly giving the Ducks the lead.

Anaheim answered late in the third period when Mikael Granlund tied the game 1-1 with 6:03 remaining, finishing a cross-ice feed from LaCombe with a sharp wrist shot for his third goal of the playoffs.

Vegas responded just 65 seconds later when Barbashev delivered the game-winning goal, a sequence that prompted an angry bench reaction from Ducks coach Joel Quenneville over the non-icing decision.

The Ducks pressed for an equalizer after pulling goalie Lukas Dostal with 1:55 left, but Marner sealed the win with an empty-net goal from the length of the ice with six seconds remaining. Dostal finished with 19 saves, while Carter Hart stopped 33 of 34 shots for Vegas.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Wednesday in Las Vegas. -Field Level Media/Reuters