ANAHEIM, Calif. — The penalty kill wasn’t going to be perfect forever.
Relying on it might have been the Vegas Golden Knights’ biggest downfall in their 4-3 loss in Game 4 to the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Sunday.
The Knights, entering Sunday with the league’s best penalty kill in the playoffs, killing 26 of 27 chances, gave up two power-play goals in a game for the first time in the postseason.
It was also the first time they’ve allowed a goal while short-handed since Game 3 of the first round against Utah.
“I think we’ve just got to be a little bit more disciplined,” said defenseman Brayden McNabb. “We took a few, they got a few.”
Coach John Tortorella didn’t want to dissect the penalty kill, but felt they needed to get out of the second period tied rather than down 3-2.
Ducks winger Alex Killorn broke the tie with 2:02 left in the period with Anaheim’s second power-play goal.
“I think the biggest part of the game was I think we need to get out of the second period 2-2,” Tortorella said. “That gave them some life.”
The best-of-seven series is tied 2-2 with a pivotal Game 5 heading to T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.
Brett Howden scored his seventh goal of the playoffs, and Pavel Dorofeyev added a power-play goal of his own. Both goals tied the game.
But the Ducks, as they have at different times this series, had the answer.
Rookie winger Beckett Sennecke scored Anaheim’s first power-play goal, giving him goals in three straight games.
Center Mikael Granlund broke the 1-1 tie five minutes after Dorofeyev scored on a rebound at 10:22.
Howden tied it 2-2 at 4:04 of the second from a backhand pass from center William Karlsson behind the Anaheim net.
The Knights got a power play to begin the third period, but couldn’t do anything with it.
Anaheim defenseman Ian Moore gave his team a two-goal cushion at 3:43 with a point shot that beat goaltender Carter Hart clean.
Hart allowed four goals on 23 shots after giving up five in his previous three starts.
“They scored their fourth goal, and they’re just filling the neutral zone,” Tortorella said. “That was the most important part of the game.”
Center Tomas Hertl scored his first goal since March 4 with Hart pulled for the extra attacker with 1:04 remaining, but the Knights couldn’t generate anything for the tying goal.
“I think there’s some ebbs and flows,” winger Colton Sissons said. “I think down the stretch, we wanted to probably win a couple more battles and execute a little bit more to create some offense.”
The Knights find themselves in the same position as they did in the first round against the Utah Mammoth — a tied series heading home for an important Game 5.
There will be one more game in Anaheim in this series. The odds are in the Knights’ favor, given their home-ice advantage and familiarity with the situation.
“I have zero worry about this team about how we’re going to go about the next few games here,” Tortorella said. “I have total trust (in them).”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
