2 Golden Knights most to blame for Game 4 loss to Ducks

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are often a game of adjustments. The Anaheim Ducks appeared to be in a bit of trouble when they dropped Game 3 of their second-round series at home to the Vegas Golden Knights by a robust 6-2 margin. But thanks to adjustments made by veteran coach Joel Quenneville as well as some improved overall play by his team, Anaheim bounced back in Game 4 and evened the series at 2 games apiece as a result of their 4-3 triumph.

Vegas head coach John Tortorella has been around long enough to know that even a one-sided victory in the previous game does not necessarily mean that a team will have momentum when they take the ice the next time out. That is especially true when his team is missing its best clutch player and traditional leader.

Mark Stone came out of Game 3 due to a non-contact injury and did not dress for Game 4. The Golden Knights were not the same sharp team without him. Stone appeared to suffer a lower body injury in the hip, groin or upper thigh area, but the specific problem has not been announced. His absence was felt by the VGK and the Ducks clearly took advantage of an opponent that was not quite as sharp as it had been the previous game.

Stone has battled frequent injuries over the years, and the 2025-26 season was not different. The VGK was 31-17-12 when Stone was in the lineup and just 8-9-5 when he was unable to play.

In addition to Stone’s absence, several of their player were not quite as effective in Game 4 as they had been in Game 3.

Hart did not have a sharp game in goal

The first three games of the series saw Carter Hart performed at a very high level in net for the Golden Knights. He kept the high-scoring Ducks in check by stopping 89 of 94 shots that he faced.

Hart did not execute at that level in Game 4. He saw several shots get by him that he would have eaten up in the earlier games. He also had one major fall that could have resulted in an embarrassing goal after a puck was cleared to his end during a Vegas power play. As he attempted to move out of his crease, he spread-eagled on the ice and seemingly could not move.

However, he was able to pick up the puck in his catching glove and freeze the puck, leading to a stoppage in play and a subsequent face-off. That allowed him to awkwardly pick himself up and get back into position.

Hart was not at his best after the Golden Knights had tied the game at 2-2 on a goal by Brett Howden early in the second period. He gave up a power play goal late in that period to Alex Killorn when he failed to control the puck in the blue paint. That allowed Vegas to take a 3-2 lead.

Calmer version of Tortorella surfaces

They extended it early in the third on a wrist shot from the point by defenseman Ian Moore. That shot was not a blazer, but Hart did not see it after being screened.

Tortorella did not single out Hart after the game in public and criticize him, indicating the bombastic coach is changing his ways. Past iterations of Tortorella might have criticized Hart and other teammates to the media in an effort to send a message.

That no longer seems the case, as Tortorella was encouraging to all of his players after the game. “I have zero worry about this team, as far as how we’re going to go about the next few games here, wherever it goes,” Tortorella said, per Jesse Granger of The Athletic. “I have total trust.”

Defenseman Noah Hanifin did not assert himself

There were a few subpar efforts from the VGK stars and one of them came from defenseman Noah Hanifan. He is normally quite dependable, but he had just one shot on goal in nearly 23 minutes of on-ice time and he had a minus-2 rating.

The Golden Knights clearly need more from him. He has five assists in the Golden Knights’ 10 playoff games, and the team needs more from him. All of Hanifan’s assists came in the team’s first-round victory over the Utah Mammoth. Rasmus Andersson, Hanifin’s defense partner, has also looked somewhat listless against the Ducks. He has been held to one assist in the first four games of the series.

Hanifin scored just 3 goals in the regular season. He had been a double-digit goal scorer in three of the previous four years, and Hanifin needs to bring that aggressiveness with him in the remaining games of the series if the Golden Knights are going to survive and advance to the Western Conference Finals.

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