Golden Knights beat Ducks 5-1 in Game 6 to reach the Western Conference finals

TL;DR

The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-1 in Game 6, advancing to the Western Conference finals. Mitch Marner and Pavel Dorofeyev were key players, with Dorofeyev scoring twice in the third period.

Key points

Golden Knights beat Ducks 5-1 in Game 6
Mitch Marner scored the opening goal
Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice in the third period
Vegas advances to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2023
Golden Knights will face the Colorado Avalanche next

Vegas Golden KnightsAnaheim DucksColorado Avalanche

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Mitch Marner scored a tremendous goal 62 seconds after the opening faceoff, Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice in the third period and the Vegas Golden Knights cruised into the Western Conference finals with a 5-1 victory over Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 of the second round Thursday night.

Brett Howden scored his third short-handed goal of the playoffs and Shea Theodore got a power-play goal during a 3-0 first period for the Golden Knights, who reached the third round of the NHL postseason for the first time since they won their lone Stanley Cup championship in 2023 — and for the fifth time in this charmed expansion franchise’s nine seasons of existence.

Marner played a role in all three of Vegas’ first-period goals while raising his NHL-leading playoff point total to 18, and Game 5 overtime goal-scorer Dorofeyev put the game away with a huge third period. Carter Hart made 31 saves as the veteran-laden Golden Knights ended the upstart Ducks’ first playoff appearance since 2018.

Vegas will face an exponentially bigger challenge in the Colorado Avalanche, who won the Presidents’ Trophy and then improved to 8-1 in the postseason on Wednesday by .