LIVE UPDATES: Controversial call dominates conversation after Knights Game 1 win

The Vegas Golden Knights are bringing reinforcements for their second-round series against the Anaheim Ducks, which opens shortly after 6:30 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena.

Two-way center William Karlsson will be in the lineup for the first time since Nov. 8 as he returns from a lower-body injury that cost him most of the regular season.

Carter Hart is expected to be in net once again for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series, which airs on ESPN.

Keep it here for live updates. This page will be updated frequently.

Controversial goal dominates conversation

The eventual game-winning goal by Ivan Barbashev was one of the top trending topics on social media following Monday night’s opening game between the Knights and Ducks.

It had nothing to do with the pass by Pavel Dorofeyev or Barbashev’s shot.

Instead, debate raged over the decision of the on-ice officials to wave off a potential icing call against the Knights.

Forward Jack Eichel chased after the puck into the corner and was locked in what was essentially a dead heat with Anaheim defenseman Jackson Lacombe.

While the language in the rulebook leaves open to interpretation whether icing should have been called on the play, it is typically whistled dead in NHL games.

Even Eichel appeared to slow down as he approached the puck, along with several Ducks skaters.

But the Knights didn’t give up on the play as a linesman waved his arms for play to continue and the puck ended up in the net for what proved to be the game-winning goal with 4:58 remaining.

The Anaheim bench, including coach Joel Quenneville, vehemently expressed their disagreement at the time.

“Clearly, I disagree with the call. It was clearly icing,” Quenneville said after the game. “Their guy stopped skating, which really made me annoyed.”

Knights coach John Tortorella chose to mostly sidestep the question, insisting his view of the play was blocked so he couldn’t render a decision.

The officials declined a request from a pool reporter to comment on the call after the game.

Game 1 in the books

The Golden Knights got 33 saves from Carter Hart and were able to grab a 1-0 series advantage over the Ducks with a 3-1 victory on Monday night at T-Mobile Arena.

Brett Howden and Ivan Barbashev scored for the Knights before Mitch Marner added an empty-netter in the final seconds.

Marner had two points and Rasmus Andersson was a plus-3.

There was a brief skirmish at the final horn that could potentially carry over into Wednesday night’s Game 2, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena.

Empty-net clincher

Mitch Marner flipped a puck out of the defensive zone that trickled all the way down the ice and into the empty net for a goal that should all but clinch a Game 1 victory for the Knights.

Vegas now leads Anaheim 3-1 with 6.0 seconds remaining.

Time ticking down

Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev just missed connecting on a 2-on-1 for what would have been a game-clinching goal for the Knights.

The Ducks have called a timeout with 1:37 remaining. They have an offensive zone faceoff and have pulled Lukas Dostal in favor of an extra attacker.

Back in front

The Golden Knights needed just 1:05 to go back in front of the Ducks.

After Jack Eichel disrupted a pass in the corner to force a turnover, Pavel Dorofeyev got loose in front and found Ivan Barbashev skating toward the net.

Barbashev finished it for his third goal of the playoffs.

The Knights lead with less than five minutes to play.

All tied up

The Ducks finally found a solution to Carter Hart.

Defenseman Jackson Lacombe was able to walk the puck in tight on Hart, but was turned away.

It fell to a wide open Mikael Granlund on the other side of the net, however, and he fired it through defenseman Brayden McNabb and into the goal to tie the score.

Power play for VGK

Now the Golden Knights will get their second power play of the game.

Mitch Marner got hooked by John Carlson and this time there was no corresponding call against the Knights.

Vegas will go have the man-advantage for two minutes with a 1-0 lead and 9:01 to play in regulation.

Neither team has been able to do much on the power play thus far, however.

Four-on-four

The Ducks were called for their first penalty since the first period, but the Knights will not get their second power play of the game.

While Anaheim’s Alex Killorn was sent to the box for holding, Cole Smith was also given two minutes for embellishment.

It’s the second-consecutive home game in which such a call went against the Knights.

The Knights still lead 1-0 with 11:12 remaining in regulation.

Hanging on

The Golden Knights have killed off a fourth power-play opportunity for the Ducks.

Vegas has had just one chance on the man-advantage.

Those extra opportunities have at least in part contributed to a 27-17 shot advantage for Anaheim with 12:40 remaining in regulation, though the Knights still lead 1-0 in Game 1.

The attendance was announced at 17,838, a 2026 postseason low at T-Mobile Arena.

Tough trend

The Knights have been penalized early in a period for the third-consecutive time in Game 1.

This time, it will be Keegan Kolesar headed to the penalty box for a slashing call at 2:31 of the third.

It will be the fourth power-play opportunity for the Ducks, who have yet to capitalize.

Hart finding groove

Carter Hart has really settled into a rhythm for the Knights.

His two flawless periods tonight extend his run to 132:46 of having allowed just one goal.

After going the final 7:18 of regulation in Game 5 against Utah without surrendering a goal, he was able to go 25:28 in overtime before the Knights finally scored to end it.

He gave up just one goal in a series-clinching Game 6 and then went two scoreless periods thus far tonight.

Knights cling to lead

The Golden Knights are 20 minutes away from securing a Game 1 victory over Anaheim at T-Mobile Arena.

It hasn’t been easy.

The Ducks have a 21-14 edge in shots on goal and have had three power play opportunities to just one for the Knights.

But one shot was all it took as Mitch Marner set up Brett Howden for a goal midway through the second period to put Vegas ahead 1-0.

Carter Hart has made 21 saves to make the lead hold up.

Karlsson heads to the box

The officials weren’t about to give Karlsson a break in his return to the lineup.

He was sent to the penalty box at 11;26 of the second period for a high stick when his stick got loose and came up a bit too high.

It will be the third power play for the Ducks, who still trail 1-0 despite outshooting the Knights 19-11 thus far.

Knights strike first

Brett Howden scored the first goal of the series to put the Golden Knights ahead 1-0 at 3:14 of the second period, but it was Mitch Marner who did the heavy lifting.

Marner took a pass from Rasmus Andersson and made a move to clear some space before putting the puck right on the stick of Howden at the far post for the tap-in goal.

It was Howden’s fifth of the postseason.

The goal came at a time when the Ducks had a 15-7 lead in shots on goal and just after the Knights had killed off a power play then saw an Anaheim shot hit off the post and stay out.

Another early Anaheim power play

The Ducks will have another early power play in the second period.

This time, it was Colton Sissons sent off for high-sticking just 22 seconds into the period. It was 1:03 into the first period when Anaheim got its first power play.

The game is still scoreless.

Scoreless through one

Carter Hart made 11 saves in the first period to keep the Golden Knights level with Anaheim 20 minutes into the first game of the second-round series.

That included a stop on a decent look off the stick of winger Mason McTavish just as time expired.

The Ducks had 11 shots to just six for the Knights in the first period, but it was the Knights who had perhaps the best chance when defenseman Rasmus Andersson was sprung for a breakaway as he left the penalty box in the first few minutes of the game.

That was the best save of the game for Lukas Dostal thus far.

Both teams are 0-for-1 on the power play and are at almost exactly 50 percent on MoneyPuck’s “Deserve To Win” metric.

Knights turn on the power play

The Ducks have had the ice tilted in their direction for much of the game, but the Knights will have the chance to turn it around as they go on their first power play.

William Karlsson drew a cross-check call on Jeffrey Viel in the Knights defensive zone at the midway mark of the first period.

The Ducks have an 8-1 advantage in shots thus far.

Huge ovation for Karlsson

William Karlsson got his first shift of the game on the penalty kill with 12 seconds remaining on Anaheim’s power play.

He took the ice during a stoppage in play for an offensive-xone faceoff and drew a loud standing ovation.

The Knights killed off the power play and sprung Rasmus Andersson for a breakaway, but he was shut down by Lukas Dostal on the Knights’ first shot on goal of the game.

Knights and Ducks remain scoreless five minutes into the first period.

Ducks go to power play

Anaheim was able to create a little havoc in the offensive zone, generating three shots in the first minute of the game and eventually earning a power play when Knights’ defenseman Rasmus Andersson sent a puck out of play from deep in his own end.

The early pressure paid off for the Ducks, who will have the man-advantage for the next two minutes.

Is Smith the odd man out?

It appears as if one original Golden Knights’ return will come at the expense of another.

William Karlsson skated in warmups as the third-line center between Keegan Kolesar and Tomas Hertl, who kicked out to wing.

Reilly Smith was on the ice for warmups as an extra skater.

The official starting lineup was announced shortly before puck drop and confirmed the pre-game rushes.

Knights get the nod in prediction poll

The Golden Knights are close to a -200 choice to win the series at the sports books and have a 66.8 chance to advance according to hockey analytics site MoneyPuck.com.

But the Review-Journal staff was not unanimous in its predictions for the series.

Check out who is picking Anaheim to advance.