ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Vegas Golden Knights dreamed of nights like this when they signed Mitch Marner last summer.
Coming from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Marner has borne the brunt of the Toronto market’s displeasure over the Leafs’ deficiencies in the playoffs. Some are reasonable, but many are not. With a new start in Las Vegas, Marner hopes to put the demons of his past to rest, and he’s off to a solid start on that journey.
advertise
Marner scored a hat trick as the Cavaliers defeated the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 in Game 3 of the second round at Honda Center on Friday night to take a 2-1 series lead.
“People always say things about the playoffs and stuff to him, and I don’t think it bothers him,” Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella said. “He just plays ball. He’s a hockey player.”
His first play of the night was grabbing a loose rebound with 4.6 seconds left in the first quarter.
Marner’s second goal came on a bizarre run as Alex Killorn jumped up to challenge Shay Theodore, leaving Marner alone as the trailer. He waited for Ville Husso’s stretch pad and easily hit a backhand into the open net.
advertise
The final goal to complete the hat trick came after the Cavaliers won a puck battle in the corner when William Carlson left a pass in the back of the net for Marner, who fired a wrist shot past Husso in the left faceoff circle.
Marner scored the Cavaliers’ final three goals and completed a hat trick before the end of the second period.
“Obviously, I love it,” Marner said of the current state of his game. “But I also love the way our team plays. I love the five guys that are on the ice. I think we’ve been very responsible in playing with the puck in our hands. When they’re out there, we’ve been making plays. I think we’ve done a good job of getting the puck deep and winning battles and getting the puck back.”
It was an all-out effort from the Cavaliers on Friday. And it starts early.
advertise
Just 1:06 into the game, Cutter Gauthier failed to catch Theodore as a teaser at the entrance to the zone, so Jack Eichel threw a pass to Theodore, who beat Lukáš Dostál on a partial screen, quickly silencing the Honda Center crowd.
The score may have been 33-28 for the Ducks, but many of the Ducks’ chances weren’t as good as the Cavaliers’. According to Natural Stat Trick, Vegas has twice as many high-danger scoring chances as Anaheim, going 14-7.
“We played better as a team tonight,” Tortorella said. “Blocked shots. I thought we had good bats. I thought we did a better job with time and space.
“There are still some things we need to clean up. We’ll watch tape and go from there. Not all problems are solved just because you win a game. You have to keep working to get better.
advertise
The Knights converted a power play on three chances and also kept their winning streak alive with two successful kills. Vegas has killed 26 of 27 penalties in the playoffs, including a current streak of 21 kills. In this playoffs, the Cavaliers defeated their opponents 3-1 in a penalty shootout.
One of the shorthanded goals came in this one, as Brayden McNabb’s wrist shot from the right faceoff spot cleanly beat Dostal for the Knights’ second goal.
Offensively, the Ducks didn’t break through until the third quarter.
Beckett Senek sealed the victory for the Ducks early in the third period by poking the puck into the back of the net at the goal line on a diving play, and then Chris Kreider one-timed the puck from behind the net on a pass from Troy Terry with five minutes left.
advertise
Beyond that, Vegas completely shut down Anaheim. The Cavaliers blocked 20 shots to the Ducks’ six and had eight blocks to eliminate any threat.
“We want to be ahead of them,” McNabb said. “You want to be physical whenever possible. They’re a team that’s very good in the neutral zone and can make a lot of plays. If you have a good bat and eliminate plays, that goes a long way.”
In addition to playing a more competitive hockey, another storyline for the Ducks in Game 4 on Sunday is who will start in net.
Dostal was taken off the field after conceding three goals in the first period and was replaced by Ville Husso.
advertise
“Getting third at the end of the quarter was definitely a killer,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said. “That’s basically the game.”
Dostal stopped five of eight shots he faced, while Husso stopped 17 of 19 shots.
Regardless, Dostal struggled in this one, but really, his only bad-looking goal was McNabb’s shorthanded goal.
“We’ll see,” Quenneville said when asked after the game if Dostal would start in Game 4.
The Ducks hope to even the series in Game 4 on Sunday night, while the Cavaliers look to take a spot in the series.
“We’ve been through games like this this year where we have to make sure we respond the right way and it’s just unacceptable,” Quenneville said.