Vegas won because Hart conceded 2.40 goals below league average on 34 shots, rendering Anaheim's 34-shot night irrelevant.
β‘TURNING POINT
Barbashev's goal at 15:02 of the third restored Vegas's lead just 65 seconds after Anaheim had equalized, cutting off any momentum the Ducks could build from drawing level. Anaheim had no answer: the lead change flipped the game's psychological weight back to Vegas permanently, and Marner sealed it with 6 seconds left.
πWHY VGK WON (ranked by impact β most decisive first)
1
Goaltending: Hart conceded 2.40 goals below league average on 34 shots β in a 3-goal game, that margin was the win.
2
Takeaway Dominance: 8 takeaways to Anaheim's 2 β Vegas repeatedly converted defensive reads into transition opportunities that bypassed Anaheim's 34-shot volume entirely.
3
Resilience at 1-1: After Granlund equalized, Vegas scored twice in the final 6 minutes at even strength, demonstrating superior late-game execution when stakes peaked.
πWHY ANA LOST (ranked by impact β biggest failure first)
1
Shot-to-Goal Conversion: 34 shots, 1 goal β Anaheim's inability to solve Hart made their territorial control meaningless.
2
Special Teams: 0/6 on the power play β six opportunities squandered is six chances to overcome the goaltending margin, all wasted.
3
Giveaways: 17 giveaways directly fed Vegas's transition game and created the turnovers that offset Anaheim's shot volume advantage.
Three Stars
Carter Hart1st
VGK, G
33/34 savesSV% 0.971
Hart conceding 2.40 goals below league average on 34 shots was the single factor that made Vegas's 22-shot output sufficient to win.
Ivan Barbashev2nd
VGK, L
1G+/- +1TOI 16:04
His goal 65 seconds after Anaheim equalized was the decisive swing that permanently returned the lead to Vegas.
Brett Howden3rd
VGK, C
1G4 hitsTOI 14:45
Howden's second-period opener set the game's tone and his physicality β team-high 4 hits β disrupted Anaheim's structure throughout.
