(Photo credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images)

The Vegas Golden Knights and the Anaheim Ducks have played each other 38 times over the last nine seasons but have never met in the Stanley Cup playoffs.That changes on Monday night in Las Vegas when the two teams open a best-of-seven Western Conference second-round series.The Pacific Division champion Golden Knights, who defeated the Utah Mammoth in six games in the first round, will be playing in the second round for the sixth time in nine seasons.

Anaheim, which eliminated Connor McDavid and two-time defending Western Conference champion Edmonton in six games, will be playing its first second-round series since 2017. The Ducks defeated the Oilers in seven games that year before losing to the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference final.Vegas is 27-8-3 all-time against the Ducks, including 15-3-1 at home, but division rival Anaheim won all three meetings this season, including two in overtime.'It's going to be an exciting matchup,' said defenseman Shea Theodore, a first-round draft pick of the Ducks in 2013 who was traded to Vegas before the 2017-18 season. 'They're a great team. Watching how well they played against Edmonton, and how good Edmonton has been the last couple years, that was a tough matchup. It's going to be a tough test.'Third-year defenseman Jackson LaCombe, a member of the U.S. gold medal-winning Olympic team, led the Ducks in the opening round with nine points and a plus-six rating. He also drew praise for his defensive effort against McDavid, who scored just one goal and had five assists in six games.Left wing Cutter Gauthier, 22, led the team with 41 goals in the regular season and also against the Oilers with four goals. Center Leo Carlsson, the second overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, had 29 goals and 38 assists in 70 games, then the 21-year-old followed that up with three goals and five assists against Edmonton.

The Ducks were particularly lethal on the power play, converting eight of 16 chances (50%).'They're a fast team,' said Vegas center Jack Eichel, who led the Golden Knights with nine points against the Mammoth after scoring a team-best 90 points in the regular season. 'I think having played Utah, having improved throughout the series in terms of some of our deep defensive responsibilities, we should be able to take from that a bit.''They're a good team. They're always trying to make plays through you and around you. ' Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin added. 'They're young. They have some experience, too, on the backend especially. Should be a lot of fun.'This is the first time since 2018 that Anaheim has played in the Stanley Cup playoffs.'Now we've got a taste of playoff hockey,' said first-year Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville, who led the Chicago Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup titles (2010, 2013 and 2015). 'And I think we can feel at this moment that it's so much more fun playing games that have more meaning. And then it seems to grow from this level on.'Eichel gave Vegas fans a scare at practice Sunday when he departed with trainers with towels held to his face after getting hit in the lip with a puck. However, he returned to finish practice.Also noteworthy was center William Karlsson, out since suffering a lower-body injury on Nov. 8, returning to practice Sunday. Vegas was tight-lipped about Karlsson's possible return to the lineup. Karlsson, a two-way star and a key member on power play and penalty kill units, also is a former Duck who was obtained by Vegas from the Columbus Blue Jackets in the expansion draft.'He hasn't played in a while. I've been through that,' Vegas captain Mark Stone said. 'It's not the easiest thing in the world to come back right into the playoffs. But he's a tremendous skater and in tremendous shape.'

--Field Level Media