Mitch Marner delivered when Vegas needed him most, scoring twice and adding an assist as the Golden Knights rolled past the Utah Mammoth 5-1 on Friday night in Game 6 to close out their first-round playoff series in emphatic fashion. With the victory, Vegas advances to the Western Conference semifinals, where a showdown with Anaheim now awaits. The Ducks punched their ticket Thursday after a convincing 5-2 win over Edmonton in their own Game 6 clincher. What once looked like a team searching for direction has quickly transformed into one gathering real momentum. Since John Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy behind the bench, the Golden Knights have rediscovered their edge. Vegas finished the regular season 7-0-1 after the coaching change, then responded to a 2-1 series deficit against Utah by rattling off three consecutive wins. “This is what I hoped for,” Marner said. “There’s a lot more work to keep going.” MARNER TAKES OVER UNDER THE BRIGHT LIGHTS Marner was electric throughout the series, totaling two goals and five assists, but Friday marked his most dominant outing yet. It was also his first multi-goal playoff performance since April 20, 2023, when he accomplished the feat against Tampa Bay. “It was his best game of the series. He just looked comfortable,” Tortorella said. Vegas opened the scoring late in the first period when Brett Howden continued his scorching run. Marner fired a shot wide of the net, but the rebound kicked directly into the slot, where Howden buried it with 4:58 remaining. It was Howden’s fourth goal of the series, all of them coming over the final three games. Howden had already been a difference-maker earlier in the week, scoring the winner in Vegas’ dramatic 5-4 double-overtime triumph in Game 5. He also netted twice in regulation during the club’s Game 4 overtime win. Marner doubled the lead with just 45 seconds left in the second period after Vegas controlled possession in Utah’s zone for more than two straight minutes. Stationed high in the right circle, he hammered a slap shot that deflected off Ian Cole’s knee and found the back of the net. “I’ve had a couple opportunities in that same area that I had just missed on,” Marner said. “That’s why I just decided to quickly wind one up and see if I could get a clapper though.” VEGAS CALMLY SLAMS THE DOOR Utah finally answered in the third period when Kailer Yamamoto trimmed the deficit to 2-1, briefly giving the home crowd hope. But Vegas responded immediately, refusing to let the game tighten. Colton Sissons restored the two-goal cushion moments later, Marner buried a power-play goal for his second of the night, and Cole Smith sealed the result with an empty-net finish. “We’ve been here before,” Vegas captain Mark Stone said. “We don’t have the panic. Maybe some teams do. We can calm ourselves pretty quickly.” Carter Hart turned aside 21 shots in a steady performance, while Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka also made 21 saves in defeat. For the Mammoth, the ending was especially jarring. Utah had led in the third period of each of the first five games in the series, only to spend all of Game 6 chasing from behind. “I didn’t have that in my bingo card,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “I was really confident we would go to Vegas tomorrow.” Instead, the Mammoth are going home early. But it was not a failed season by any sense of the word. The Mammoth are a young squad and if they can acquire some new players in the offseason that can help them on special teams and between the pipes, that would be a healthy start. Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/2a5f72f4-23e2-44f9-8e80-1be10842ff34.jpeg]
