The Vegas Golden Knights made their way back into the win column with a 6-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 3 Friday night at Honda Center.
Vegas scored three goals in the first period and took a 5-0 lead late in the second. Though Anaheim eventually scored twice as part of a third-period push, the Golden Knights prevented the rally from taking shape, icing the win with an empty-net goal with just under two minutes left in regulation.
Mitch Marner recorded the first postseason hat trick of his career and finished the contest with four points to help the Golden Knights take a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-seven matchup.
The Golden Knights scored three goals in the opening frame, including one at the beginning and one at the very end of the period.
Dylan Coghlan made his playoffs debut, recording one shot in 16:17 in place of Kaedan Korczak. Both Coghlan and Ben Hutton played more than 16 minutes, which should serve Vegas well over the course of a long series.
But it was another defenseman, Shea Theodore, who opened the scoring 66 seconds into the contest to give Vegas the early lead.
The Golden Knights had an opportunity while shorthanded and managed to score once again, as Brayden McNabb beat Lukas Dostal far-side at 12:13 on the Ducks’ second power play of the game. Marner recorded the lone assist on the play for his first point of the game.
Marner got his first goal of the game at 19:55 when the Golden Knights scored on the man-advantage at the tail end of the period. Marner followed the play to the net, and he and Pavel Dorofeyev took care of a few rebounds before shoving it into the back of the cage.
It was the Golden Knights’ third goal on seven shots in the period, and it gave them a healthy lead going into the second.
However, captain Mark Stone was seen going down the tunnel and only played 4:24 in the game, recording a hit, an assist and a plus-one rating in just seven shifts. He came back to the bench for a brief skate in the second period but did not return to game action.
John Tortorella declined to provide an update on Stone’s status after the game.
Anaheim pulled Dostal, leaving Ville Husso in net for the second period. But the Golden Knights converted two more times, both off the stick of Marner.
The first was a goal scored in transition, with Jack Eichel finding Brett Howden, Howden feeding Theodore and Theodore setting up Marner’s tuck-in goal.
The next goal completed Marner’s natural hat trick. A behind-the-net feed from William Karlsson allowed Marner to skate around the side and beat Husso with a soft shot.
Marner now leads the league in playoff scoring with 13 points, which is quite a testament given his past performance in Toronto.
Carter Hart’s shutout streak came to an end when Beckett Sennecke scored with 13:30 to go in the third period, giving the Ducks some life.
Anaheim scored again to pull within three on Chris Kreider’s second of the playoffs, which came with 4:51 remaining.
However, Howden hit the empty net on a backhand flip that also got knocked down by Marner for what would have been his fourth goal. But Howden’s lucky strike — his sixth goal in the last six games — allowed the Golden Knights to put the game officially out of reach.
It was the Golden Knights’ best game of the series, and it wasn’t all that close.
The Ducks still led the Goldlen Knights in several possession categories, such as shot attemtpts (72-48) and shots (32-28). That being said, Vegas held the edge in scoring chances (29-25), high-danger scoring chances (18-10) and expected goal share (59.17 percent), according to Natural Stat Trick.
Hart had another strong game, finishing the evening with 31 saves on 33 shots for a .939 save percentage. He was the better goalie once again, and he came through with key saves and was able to take advantage of the goal support in an impressive road win.
But it was Marner who truly shined.
The former Maple Leaf had another explosive night, giving him six points in three games in this series as well as six goals and 13 points in 9 postseason games, including three multi-point performances with a total of six goals and nine points in just his last four games.
The Golden Knights played an outstanding road game, and they very much looked the part for most of the night. The Golden Knights were the much better team for the first time in this series. They needed to assert themselves, and they did just that in Game 3.
The penalty kill continues to be lights-out, as Vegas has killed 26 of 27 penalties in the playoffs and has gone a perfect 11-for-11 in this series, scoring two shorthanded goals in the process (three total for the playoffs). Incredibly, Vegas has outscored its opponents 3-1 while shorthanded during the 2026 playoffs, including a Ducks team that converted on 50 percent of its power plays in the first round against Edmonton.
The Vegas power play, which has struggled more consistently, broke through tonight, going 1-for-3 and coming up with a meaningful goal in the final seconds of the first period to make it a three-goal game after 20 minutes.
The Golden Knights were able to take back home-ice advantage with the road win. They will look to do it again when these teams square off for Game 4 Sunday in Anaheim.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.
Photo courtesy of the Golden Knights