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Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mitch Marner, second from left, celebrates his goal with teammates during the first period in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif.<\/p>\n
Mark J. Terrill\/AP Photo\/Mark J. Terrill<\/p>\n
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mitch Marner, right, laughs at Anaheim Ducks defenseman Ian Moore, left, and center Mikael Granlund during the second period in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif.<\/p>\n
Mark J. Terrill\/AP Photo\/Mark J. Terrill<\/p>\n
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore, right, celebrates his goal with center Tomas Hertl, left, during the first period in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif.<\/p>\n
Mark J. Terrill\/AP Photo\/Mark J. Terrill<\/p>\n
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mitch Marner, second from right, celebrates after scoring on Anaheim Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal, left, during the first period in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif.<\/p>\n
Mark J. Terrill\/AP Photo\/Mark J. Terrill<\/p>\n
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 and for the fifth time in this charmed expansion franchise\u2019s nine seasons of existence.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou go into it and you want to score first, especially being on the road,\u201d said Theodore, an original member of the Knights after Anaheim traded him to Vegas in 2017. \u201cI thought we responded well. We played great the first 15 minutes, and that’s what we had to do. … Just a veteran group. We had the right mindset coming in, and it was good to see the results.\u201d<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt obviously feels great,\u201d said Marner, who got labeled a playoff underachiever while his Toronto Maple Leafs never reached a conference final. \u201cWe worked extremely hard for all these little goals that we set throughout the year, and another one (is) achieved. But obviously the work just keeps getting harder and harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 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 ousting Minnesota in five games.<\/p>\n Mikael Granlund scored a power-play goal for the Ducks, whose return from a seven-year playoff drought ended when their young roster was unable to match the veteran Knights\u2019 playoff poise in three losses over the final four games.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Lukas Dostal stopped 16 shots for Anaheim, which couldn’t overcome another poor first period in Game 6, ending their encouraging first season under coach Joel Quenneville.<\/p>\n \u201cVegas got better every single game,\u201d Quenneville said. \u201cThey played well. They checked well. They deserved to win. Tonight was kind of what happened too many times this year, where we give up a couple of quick ones early, and it’s a tough comeback against a team that knows how to play hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n The Knights are 15-4-1 since John Tortorella replaced Cup-winning coach Bruce Cassidy on March 29, surging past the Ducks to claim the Pacific Division title before beating Utah and Anaheim in the first two playoff rounds.<\/p>\n The 67-year-old Tortorella refused to speak to the media after the game.<\/p>\n