The Vegas Golden Knights found a way to ground the high-flying Ducks on Friday night, securing a commanding 6-2 win in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series at Honda Center. With the victory, Vegas now holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, which resumes Sunday at Anaheim.
Mitch Marner was the star of the night, netting a hat trick and adding an assist. Defensemen Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb, along with winger Brett Howden (who scored into an empty net), also found the back of the net. The loss marked the Ducks’ first home defeat in four postseason games at Honda Center.
The Ducks got third-period goals from Beckett Sennecke and Chris Kreider, but the game was already out of reach after Vegas jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period on just eight shots. After watching Anaheim control the pace in the previous two games, the Golden Knights turned up the physicality, using an aggressive forecheck to disrupt the Ducks’ speed and limit their time in the offensive zone during the first two periods.
Theodore, who began his NHL career in Anaheim, opened the scoring just 66 seconds into the game, beating winger Cutter Gauthier to a puck in the right circle and firing a clean shot past goaltender Lukas Dostal. Jack Eichel earned the assist, his 10th of the postseason.
Later in the period, with Jack Eichel in the penalty box for hooking, McNabb doubled the lead with a shorthanded goal, blasting a shot from the left circle just inside the far post. The Golden Knights killed both penalties they faced on the night and have now stopped all 11 Ducks power plays in the series.
Marner made it 3-0 with a power-play goal five seconds before the first intermission, capitalizing on a fortunate bounce. A shot from Colton Sissons deflected off Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba and landed right on Marner’s stick in the slot. After a couple of whacks, he finally pushed the puck past Dostal, who was pulled in favor of Ville Husso to start the second period.
The change didn’t slow Vegas. Marner extended the lead with his second goal midway through the second period, then completed the hat trick with 2:04 left in the period, taking a backhand pass from William Karlsson behind the net and skating untouched to the left circle before snapping a quick shot past Husso.
A chorus of boos from the sellout crowd greeted the Ducks as they headed to the locker room after the second period. Sennecke gave the home fans something to cheer about 6:30 into the third, diving headfirst between two defenders to knock in a rebound from Alex Killorn’s shot. Kreider scored with less than five minutes remaining, but it was too little, too late.
