The Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights carry a sharp special-teams imbalance into this playoff matchup. Anaheim has converted at 32.0 percent on the power play through eight postseason games — nearly double their regular-season rate of 17.9 percent — while Vegas has countered with a penalty kill operating at 96.0 percent over the same stretch. That tension between one team's man-advantage efficiency and the other's penalty-elimination rate is the dominant officiating-relevant theme entering this game. On-ice officials will be confirmed closer to puck drop, and this preview will refresh with the assigned crew.
Discipline Profiles
Anaheim is taking more penalties than it draws this postseason — 3.75 per game for against 3.25 against — but a team discipline index of 0.25 reflects a modest net disadvantage that their conversion rate has more than offset. Their home/road differential of +2.0 this postseason indicates the Ducks have received a markedly favorable call balance when hosting, a pattern worth noting with Anaheim as the home side here. The Ducks' penalty kill sits at 77.8 percent in the postseason, a number that could face real scrutiny.
Vegas has taken 4.5 penalties per game this postseason while drawing 4.125 — a net-negative position, though one their penalty kill at 96.0 percent has largely neutralized. Their discipline index sits at 0.0 this postseason. More relevant here is their road home/road differential of -2.333: the Golden Knights have been on the wrong side of the call ledger when away from home across these eight games. Traveling to Anaheim as the road side compounds that pattern.
Players to Watch
Leo Carlsson draws penalties at 1.700 per 60 minutes against 0.813 taken for Anaheim — the widest positive differential among tracked players in this matchup. Troy Terry adds 1.116 drawn per 60 against 0.601 taken. For Vegas, Mark Stone is the most disciplined profile in their top six: 1.169 drawn per 60 and just 0.219 taken per 60. Jack Eichel sits at 1.281 drawn per 60 against 0.512 taken.
What to Watch
Three patterns warrant attention. First, whether Anaheim's 32.0 percent postseason power-play rate can hold against a Vegas penalty kill at 96.0 percent — two of the more extreme values on either side of the special-teams ledger. Second, VGK's road penalty trend: their -2.333 road differential suggests their already-elevated 4.5 penalties-taken-per-game rate could climb further on Anaheim ice. Third, Carlsson's drawn-call rate is the sharpest individual edge in the matchup; his role on the power play becomes a variable to track in how that 32.0 percent conversion rate materializes.
This game profiles as penalty-active on both sides, with Anaheim's conversion efficiency the more decisive variable than raw call volume.