- Beckett Sennecke had a goal and an assist in Anaheim’s 4-3 Game 4 win
- The rookie has scored in three straight playoff games, joining only Sidney Crosby (2007) as a U-21 player with that streak this century
- Read below for how Sennecke and the Ducks evened the series with Vegas
Beckett Sennecke is doing things in Anaheim that only Sidney Crosby has done at his age.
The 20-year-old rookie scored a power-play goal and assisted on Alex Killorn’s go-ahead PP marker as the Ducks beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 at Honda Center on Sunday night to even the second-round series 2-2.
With Sunday’s goal, Sennecke now has goals in three straight playoff games. That makes him the only player under 21 to put together a three-game postseason scoring streak this century besides Crosby, who did it for Pittsburgh in 2007. He’s also just the second rookie in franchise history to score in three consecutive playoff games, joining Bobby Ryan from 2009.
Watch the rookie open the scoring with a one-timer past Carter Hart:
His goal at 8:43 of the first ended a couple of streaks at once. Vegas had killed 21 straight penalties dating back to the regular season, and the Ducks were 0-for-11 on the man advantage in the series before Sennecke ripped Killorn’s feed past Hart five-hole.
After the game, Sennecke explained how it unfolded.
“Kind of a broken play on the breakout and then I thought they all collapsed to the house, so I thought I’d just shoot one,” he said.
On Killorn’s go-ahead goal late in the second, the setup was even slicker. Sennecke fanned on a pass, spun off a Vegas defender, and found Killorn in the cycle. The veteran banked it off Hart for a 3-2 lead at 17:58.
Joel Quenneville liked what he saw from his young winger, who finished with a goal, an assist, and a cross-checking minor for getting tangled up with Nic Dowd along the boards. Killorn was even more direct about the rookie’s impact.
“He was really involved emotionally in the game tonight. I think that’s when he plays his best. He’s making hits, he’s taking hits,” Killorn said.
Anaheim is getting all of this in a first NHL postseason from a player who was named a Calder Trophy finalist a week ago:
Sennecke’s mom was in the building on Mother’s Day, and the rookie joked afterward that his goal might count as her gift. Game 5 goes Tuesday night in Vegas.
