Game #1: Ducks vs. Golden Knights Gameday Preview (10/02/26)

"It's gonna be a fast five minutes (to start)," Leo Carlsson said. "It's always loud in Vegas. Just play a simple game in the beginning, and then it's going to open up. They're an older and heavy team, we've known that since last year."

"It's always an exciting game, the first night," Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said. "I think that when we finished (training) camp there, we had a little maybe tough ending. But I thought we had a real good week and a couple good days here going into the game. These guys want to play for keeps. I really liked the pace of our practices. We want to play with some speed, we want to play with some energy, we like the enthusiasm in our team. A lot of new faces, a lot of new players. At the same time, we've got some guys that we're excited to see how they're going to do this year, and I think they should be getting better. That's what we're looking forward to as well."

The Ducks' lineup will feature a pair of NHL debutants. Judd Caulfield, who had an impressive training camp, will skate alongside Jeff Malott and Tim Washe on the fourth line. Caulfield has appeared in over 200 AHL games and was utilized heavily by former San Diego Gulls head coach Matt McIlvane last season. Defenseman Noah Warren will be paired with Tyson Hinds on the third defensive pair. Injuries to Drew Helleson and Ian Moore have opened up opportunities for players like Warren and Travis Mitchell (who will be making his Ducks debut) to crack the lineup.