Golden Knights seek home rebound vs. Ducks

The Vegas Golden Knights hope to move on from one of the worst home losses in franchise history when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night in Las Vegas.

The Golden Knights, who went 29-10-2 in their first season at T-Mobile Arena and followed that up with a 24-12-5 mark last season, fell to 3-3 at home this season with an ugly 6-1 setback to Colorado on Friday afternoon.

Afterward, Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant didn't mince words.

"There wasn't a lot of effort (Friday)," Gallant said. "I don't know where to start really. It was an embarrassing game for everyone, it really was. ... You can talk about the will to get the puck, and they were so much faster and quicker than us. After the first period, it was 2-1, but it should have been 5-1 or something closer to that."

Gallant pulled starter Marc-Andre Fleury, who kept things from getting really ugly fast, midway through the second period after the Avalanche made it 4-1.

"I pulled him to save him," Gallant said. "It was embarrassing the way we played. I think they had 30 shots at the time halfway through the hockey game."

After the Golden Knights practiced on Saturday morning, Gallant tried to take an optimistic approach to the blowout loss.

"Sometimes embarrassment is pretty good for you," he said. "I'm sure everyone went home last night looking for answers, looked in the mirror and said, 'I've got to be better.' "

Gallant said it was important to move on and get ready for an Anaheim team that snapped a three-game losing streak with an impressive 5-2 victory at Colorado on Saturday night.

"We play 82 games, and if you don't move on you're going to hurt your team," Gallant said. "I was (ticked) off last night. I'm sure they were (ticked) off last night. And today you come and have a good hard practice and work hard and get ready for tomorrow. That's all you can do. We played bad. We didn't have a fun night. They dominated us. You've got to get by it."

The Ducks will be playing the final game of a four-game road trip that began with losses at Nashville (6-1) and Dallas (2-1) before Saturday's win in Denver, handing the Central Division-leading Avalanche just their second regulation loss of the season and first one at home.

Ryan Miller had 35 saves, and defenseman Hampus Lindholm tied his career high for points with three assists. Anaheim jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead and never trailed in the contest.

"The guys played a great game," Miller told NHL.com. "They're a dangerous offense. We're catching them on a back-to-back, so I thought our effort and pushing at them to play defense made it so we were off to an early lead."

Colorado cut the lead to 3-2 early in the third period on a power-play goal by Nathan MacKinnon, but 20-year-old left winger Max Comtois put Anaheim back ahead by two goals five minutes later with a backhand rebound goal. Jakob Silfverberg sealed the victory with an empty-netter.

"Every game I try to be better and prove I belong in this league," Comtois said. "Every time we can get on the score sheet -- us young guys -- it's good for our confidence."

This is the first meeting between the Ducks and Golden Knights this season. Vegas swept all four games from Anaheim last season, outscoring the Ducks 14-3 in the process.

--Field Level Media