Mitch Marner and Shea Theodore both scored once and added an assist during a three-goal opening period to spark visiting Vegas to a 5-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday in Game 6, advancing the Golden Knights to the Western Conference finals.
Vegas will face the Colorado Avalanche for the conference title, with Game 1 scheduled for Wednesday in Denver.
Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice while Brett Howden added a single tally for the Golden Knights, who beat the Ducks in the last two games of the best-of-seven series.
Vegas goaltender Carter Hart made 31 saves.
The Golden Knights are headed to the third round for the fifth time in nine seasons since joining the NHL as an expansion team in 2017-18. Vegas beat Colorado in the teams’ lone playoff meeting, in the 2021 second round.
Mikael Granlund scored for Anaheim, and goalie Lukas Dostal stopped 16 shots.
Marner opened the scoring 62 seconds into the clash with a highlight-reel-worthy goal. William Karlsson sprung him on a partial breakaway, and while holding off a defender, Marner tucked the puck through his own legs and tapped it into the net.
Howden doubled the lead with a short-handed tally at the 8:30 mark. Marner pulled up while on a rush to give Howden time to become open at the far side of the net, and sent a perfect pass for a redirect chance that Howden converted for his third career postseason short-handed goal.
Marner collected 11 points in the series (five goals, six assists).
Theodore’s power-play goal made it a 3-0 game at 17:19 of the one-sided opening frame. After a faceoff win, Theodore fired a long wrist shot through a screen.
Granlund’s power-play goal at 12:46 of the second period gave the Ducks a jolt of life, but Dorofeyev’s pair of third-period goals quashed any comeback hopes.
Dorofeyev restored Anaheim’s three-goal edge at 2:52 of the third period when he unloaded a quick shot from the slot. He added another 11 minutes later from a sharp angle to round out the scoring, his ninth of the playoffs, which leads the league. Dorofeyev has five goals in the past three games.
With defenseman Brayden McNabb serving a one-game suspension, Kaedan Korczak drew into the Vegas lineup.
Jansen Harkins laced up for the Ducks with forward Ryan Poehling out due to the injury sustained when he was hit by McNabb.
