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05/08 23:27 CDT Marner's first playoff hat trick propels Golden Knights to 6-2
rout of Ducks and 2-1 series lead
Marner's first playoff hat trick propels Golden Knights to 6-2 rout of Ducks
and 2-1 series lead
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) --- Mitch Marner had three goals and an assist in his
first career playoff hat trick, and the Vegas Golden Knights routed the Anaheim
Ducks 6-2 on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in their second-round series.
Shea Theodore had a goal and an assist and Brayden McNabb scored a short-handed
goal as the Golden Knights stormed to a 5-0 lead after two periods, silencing a
sellout crowd in Orange County and erasing memories of their rough offensive
outing in Game 2.
Carter Hart made 30 saves as Vegas moved halfway to the Western Conference
finals while sending the upstart Ducks to the worst loss of their first
postseason in eight years.
Game 4 is Sunday night in Anaheim.
Marner got his natural hat trick in the first two periods, giving him six goals
in the past four games of his first playoff run with his new team. The longtime
Maple Leafs forward delivered Vegas' first four-point playoff performance since
2019 and prompted a few hats to be thrown onto the ice when he slipped his
third goal under Ville Husso with 2:04 left in the second.
Marner's three goals were more than he scored in last spring's entire 13-game
playoff run with Toronto, where the Ontario native frequently got criticism for
not delivering in the postseason.
Rookie forward Beckett Sennecke and Chris Kreider scored in the third period
for the Ducks, who got embarrassed in their team's first home game in the
second round since 2017.
Lukas Dostal gave up three goals on eight shots in a rough first period before
Husso replaced him, but Anaheim lost at home for the first time in four games
this spring.
Vegas captain Mark Stone didn't play in the third period after apparently
incurring a lower-body injury in the first period.
Theodore put Vegas ahead 66 seconds after the opening faceoff with his 20th
postseason goal off a clever assist from Jack Eichel. The Ducks drafted
Theodore in 2013, but former general manager Bob Murray traded him to Vegas in
2017 in a questionable scheme to keep defenseman Josh Manson in the expansion
draft.
The 35-year-old McNabb then scored the third short-handed goal of his 14-year
NHL career when he crossed up Dostal with a fluttering shot.
Marner capped the Knights' stellar first period with his fourth playoff goal on
a power play when Dostal couldn't control a rebound. Marner got another midway
through the second period, tapping in a pass from Theodore while the Ducks
stood around watching.
Brett Howden put his sixth playoff goal into an empty net with 1:56 left.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
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