Marner has natural hat trick, Golden Knights top Ducks in Game 3 of West 2nd Round

ANAHEIM -- Mitch Marner had a natural hat trick and assisted on a short-handed goal for the Vegas Golden Knights, who defeated the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 in Game 3 of the Western Conference Second Round at Honda Center on Friday.

It was the first career Stanley Cup Playoff hat trick for Marner, who also set an NHL postseason high with four points.

"It's always nice to try and contribute in a couple games but, at the end of the day, you just want to win games," Marner said. "Tonight, a lot of great plays by a lot of people around me to set me up in a spot I could succeed in."

Vegas leads the best-of-7 series 2-1. Game 4 will be at Honda Center on Sunday (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN360, SN, TVAS).

Shea Theodore and Brett Howden each had a goal and an assist, and Carter Hart made 31 saves for the Golden Knights, the No. 1 seed from the Pacific Division.

Vegas forward Mark Stone, who had an assist, appeared to sustain a lower-body injury late in the first period. He briefly returned to the bench early in the second before heading back to the locker room for the remainder of the game.

Golden Knights coach John Tortorella did not have an update on Stone after the game.

Beckett Sennecke and Chris Kreider scored for the Ducks, the No. 3 seed from the Pacific. Lukas Dostal allowed three goals on eight shots before he was replaced by Ville Husso at the start of the second period. Husso finished with 17 saves in his second relief appearance of the postseason.

“There's a lesson to take out of today's game, and it's only going to get harder every single game," Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville said. "Let's get ready to go to war.”

Theodore gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 1:06 of the first period. Jack Eichel passed the puck from the corner to Theodore trailing on the play, and he scored with a wrist shot from the right hash marks.

Brayden McNabb’s short-handed goal extended it to 2-0 at 12:13. The Ducks were on their second power play when Marner picked off a pass in the Anaheim zone and sped the other way. Marner pulled up above the left circle and dropped a pass for McNabb, who skated into the same circle before scoring with a snap shot over Dostal's left pad and under his glove.

Marner’s power-play goal with five seconds left pushed it to 3-0 when he scored on his own rebound from the side of the crease.

“It wasn't a great start," Ducks forward Alex Killorn said. "They score in the first five minutes and then they get a PK goal and then that goal on the power play with five seconds left. It's tough to win a game when you put yourself in spots like that.”

Marner’s second goal of the game made it 4-0 at 9:19 of the second period. He received a pass as he skated through the right circle and waited out Husso before tucking the puck into the net from in close.

“(Marner) is very confident in what he brings," Tortorella said. "You know, people give him (stuff) all the time about playoffs and this and that, and I don’t think it bothers him a lick. He just plays. He’s a hockey player, and I’m glad he's doing some things for us.”

Marner completed the natural hat trick at 17:56 to extend it to 5-0, bringing the puck out from behind the Anaheim net and scoring short side from the bottom of the left circle.

Marner leads all skaters in points this postseason with 13 (six goals, seven assists).

"I try to always be an energizer guy," Marner said. "A guy that goes out there and brings a lot of passion and energy to games. Obviously, I always want the puck on my tape. I want to try to make the plays."

Sennecke made it 5-1 at 6:30 of the third period when he beat Hart to a rebound in the crease by diving in and pushing the puck into the net.

Kreider cut it to 5-2 at 15:09 after scoring off a feed from below the goal line by Troy Terry.

Howden then scored into an empty net with 1:56 left for the 6-2 final.

NOTES: Marner's hat trick was the second of this postseason for the Golden Knights. Pavel Dorofeyev scored three goals in a 5-4 double-overtime win against the Utah Mammoth in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round on April 29. ... Marner has three short-handed assists in these playoffs. He also became the first Vegas player with at least three points in consecutive road playoff games, and the first with multiple goals in two straight road playoff games. ... Eichel, who had an assist, is the first Vegas player in team history to record at least a point in his first four road games to start a postseason. ... Kreider scored his 50th career playoff goal, becoming the sixth U.S.-born player in NHL history to reach the mark. The only active player with as many is Patrick Kane (53 goals). … Anaheim is 0-for-11 on the power play in the series after going 8-for-16 in the first round against Edmonton.