The Anaheim Ducks evened their second-round playoff series with Vegas at 2-2 on Sunday with a 4-3 victory built around an unlikely tactical advantage: Beckett Sennecke has scored 1 goal in this game. He has scored 23 goals on 29.0 expected goals this season, making him one of the worst finishers in the league relative to his opportunities. Yet the Golden Knights are structuring their defensive coverage around him like he's a primary threat, and that misallocation is creating the space for Cutter Gauthier and Alex Killorn to carve up the defensive zone.
Per MoneyPuck, Anaheim generates a 55% on-ice expected goals share with Sennecke deployed, compared to just 49% when he sits. That six-point gap isn't small, and it's not random. It suggests opposing defenses - Vegas included - are pulling resources toward Sennecke in ways that benefit everyone else wearing a Ducks sweater. The power-play goal 8:43 into the first period illustrated the dynamic perfectly: Gauthier drew two Vegas defenders below the goal line, Killorn worked the half-wall, and Sennecke had time and space to finish because the Golden Knights committed bodies to contain the actual threats.
Greg Cronin's deployment strategy in Game 4 leaned into this exploit. As Eric Stephens noted for The Athletic, Anaheim's tactical shift in power-play deployment matched their top unit - featuring Gauthier and Sennecke - against Vegas's penalty kill for 1:42 of 5v4 time in the first period, "exploiting Golden Knights' fatigue from line mismatching." Stephens called this the "story of the game," as it generated two power-play goals that flipped momentum early. The attention Sennecke commands isn't proportional to his production, but it's creating room for the players who can actually finish.
Gauthier recorded three assists in just 12:39 of ice time, tying a Ducks playoff single-game record for helpers. Killorn added a goal and an assist in 20:19. Sennecke finished with 2 shots on goal in 15:53 and a -6.0 goals versus expected over 82 games that ranks among the league's least efficient shooters. Yet his on-ice expected goals percentage sits at 55%, and Gauthier's numbers reinforce the pattern: he's +11.2 goals versus expected with a 58% on-ice expected goals share when skating alongside Sennecke. When Gauthier is on the ice without him, Anaheim's expected goals share drops to 47%.
The decoy is more valuable than the shooter.
Vegas's Coverage Warped Around the Wrong Player
The second power-play goal at 17:58 of the second period followed the same pattern. Sennecke drew attention at the point, Gauthier fed Killorn for the finish. Sennecke recorded the secondary assist. His presence warped Vegas's coverage enough to create a 2-on-1 advantage for the actual finishers, and John Tortorella's adjustments - or lack thereof - compounded the problem.
Jesse Granger observed for The Athletic that Vegas's failure to adjust their neutral-zone trap allowed Anaheim's speed rush to create 14 high-danger chances (per Natural Stat Trick data), double their series average. "The turning point was a 2:18 sequence in the second period where Ducks' forecheck forced three Vegas turnovers," Granger wrote, connecting the breakdown to Vegas's regular-season overreliance on Mark Stone, who was absent with an upper-body injury. Granger gave Tortorella a C- for lineup decisions, including scratching a key defenseman in favor of a veteran call-up that "backfired spectacularly."
Shea Theodore logged 24:39 and took 3 shots, but his primary assignment appeared to be shadowing Sennecke through the neutral zone. Ivan Barbashev and Colton Sissons both spent shifts tracking him in the offensive zone, leaving Gauthier to work one-on-one against less mobile defenders. The misallocation didn't just open lanes for Anaheim's top finishers - it tilted the entire game. Advanced metrics show Anaheim generated 2.404 expected goals to Vegas's 1.988 across all situations, a +0.416 edge that should have produced a wider margin than the final 4-3 scoreline.
Ian Moore scored at even strength at 3:43 of the third with help from Gauthier and Olen Zellweger, extending Anaheim's lead after a sequence where Vegas's faltered 1-3-1 failed to contain a controlled zone entry. TSN's Luke Fox noted the turning point as Moore's third-period goal off "Anaheim's 11th such success" against Vegas's trap, questioning Tortorella's decision to ride Adin Hill for 58 minutes despite visible fatigue. Hill's save percentage dropped to .878 in the third period, and Fox graded the Ducks power play an A while giving Vegas's penalty kill a D.
The Broader Implication: Draft Pedigree Distorts Coverage
Sennecke was a first-round pick, and he skates with players who can finish. That combination creates an assumption of danger that doesn't match his actual shooting efficiency. Vegas isn't the first team to fall into this trap, but in a playoff series where the margin is this thin, every misallocated defender matters. Anaheim converted on 2 of their 3 power-play opportunities while Vegas scored once on the man advantage, ending Vegas's streak of 21 consecutive successful penalty kills. The special teams gap reflects the same dynamic: Sennecke draws attention, Gauthier and Killorn capitalize.
Pavel Dorofeyev scored 1 goal in this game. He is +6.2 goals versus expected with a 64% on-ice expected goals share. Tomas Hertl scored 1 goal in this game. He is -11.6 goals versus expected but still commands a 65% on-ice share. The Golden Knights (39-26-17, 95 points) have the firepower to win this series. But if they keep treating Sennecke like a primary threat instead of a secondary piece, they're going to keep giving Gauthier and Killorn the clean looks that decide games. Carter Hart made 17 saves on 21 shots. Three of those goals came from players who were open because Vegas was worried about someone else.
The Path Forward Requires Recalibration
The question is whether Vegas can adjust or whether Anaheim has found a repeatable exploit. Mitch Marner finished with 2 assists in 23:57, and Jack Eichel added 2 assists in 21:59, but their offensive contributions couldn't offset the defensive breakdowns. Vegas generated a 54.0% expected goals share across all situations this season, per MoneyPuck, but they're not getting those numbers when Sennecke is on the ice.
Jeff Marek pinpointed Anaheim's third-period defensive shell - dropping low to block 22 Vegas shots - as a masterclass in systems play, frustrating the Knights' cycle game that dominated Games 1-3. Marek deemed Gauthier's three assists the "quiet MVP sequence," starting with a pinpoint saucer pass on the first power-play goal, and linked the storyline to the Ducks' youth infusion post-2025 draft, with Sennecke's energy "changing the series narrative from Vegas juggernaut to Anaheim resurgence."
Anaheim's coaching staff has no incentive to change the deployment. Even if Sennecke never scores again, his ability to occupy defenders who should be covering more dangerous players makes him indispensable. The Ducks (43-33-6, 92 points) finished behind Vegas in the Pacific Division standings but have now won four straight home playoff games, riding tactical advantages that don't show up in traditional scouting reports.
The path forward for Vegas requires a recalibration. They need to trust that Sennecke's shooting efficiency will regress toward his expected goals and start allocating defensive attention based on actual danger rather than perceived danger. That means tighter coverage on Gauthier, who has been the most efficient finisher on the ice for either team. It means recognizing that Killorn's 47% on-ice expected goals share is misleading because he's skating with players who tilt the ice in his favor. And it means accepting that Sennecke's value to Anaheim isn't about what he does with the puck - it's about what happens when he doesn't have it.
The series is tied 2-2. Watch how Vegas adjusts their coverage in Game 5. If Theodore is still shadowing Sennecke through the neutral zone while Gauthier operates one-on-one, this series could swing back to Anaheim despite the Golden Knights' superior regular-season record. The numbers say Sennecke is one of the worst finishers in the league. Vegas is defending him like he's elite. That disconnect is costing them possessions they can't afford to give away.