Marner’s first playoff hat trick propels Golden Knights to 6-2 rout of Ducks and 2-1 series lead

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.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/nhl

Greg Beacham, The Associated Press