The Vegas Golden Knights are back in familiar territory, advancing to the Western Conference final.
Jonathan Marchessault scored three goals for his second career postseason hat trick as the Golden Knights defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Game 6 of their second-round series on Sunday night, marking their fourth trip to the semifinal round in the franchise’s six-year history.
“We’re only halfway done to our goal here,” Marchessault said. “We’re going to keep going until we win the ultimate goal. Tonight is just one step in the right direction.”
Reilly Smith and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights, with Ivan Barbashev adding two assists. Adin Hill made 39 saves in his third career playoff start.
“I’ve worked very hard my whole life to get to the NHL and to be here,” said the 27-year-old Hill. “It’s exciting being on a team that’s this good and has a chance to really do it all. I’m grateful and excited about it.”
Vegas will face the winner of the Dallas vs. Seattle series, which will be decided in Game 7 on Monday night.
The Golden Knights still have several players from their inaugural season in 2017-18 when they reached the Stanley Cup Final.
“We have a lot of older guys on the team who have been through many situations,” Marchessault said. “We don’t panic. It’s one of our strengths, and it’s definitely going to help in the future.”
Connor McDavid and Warren Foegele scored early in the first period for Edmonton, giving the Oilers a 2-1 lead less than three minutes into the game. Stuart Skinner allowed four goals on 17 shots through two periods, and Jack Campbell stopped all four shots he faced in the third.
The Oilers fell short of returning to the conference final for the second consecutive year after losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Colorado a year ago.
“It hurts,” Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl said, visibly emotional. “It’s tough to find words right now. When you start a season, you’re in it to win it. We’re at that stage. If you don’t complete that, it almost feels like a failure or a wasted year. It hurts.”
Edmonton’s loss officially extended the drought for a Canadian team winning the Cup to 30 years since Montreal’s victory in 1993.
Marchessault tied the score 2-2 at 4:26 of the second period as the puck deflected off a skate in front of the crease, and the right-wing fired it into the net as Skinner slid across the goalmouth to try to stop him.
“A little bit of lack of execution defensively in the second period really hurt us tonight,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said.
Marchessault then put Vegas ahead at 7:44. After a slap shot by Alec Martinez deflected off Skinner’s shoulder and landed on the goal line, Marchessault tapped it in.
Seconds after a Vegas power play expired late in the middle period, Marchessault completed his hat trick with a 4-on-4 goal with 1:24 remaining. His wrist shot from just above the hash marks on a cross-ice feed from Alex Pietrangelo beat Skinner’s far side.
Leon Draisaitl scored 13 goals in his first eight playoff games, and McDavid was reunited on the same line in the third period in an attempt to produce more offense. The Oilers generated several chances, and McDavid rang a shot off the post.
Campbell was pulled for an extra attacker with over three minutes to play in the third, but Hill and the Golden Knights stood firm.
“What was the difference? They did many good things; they shut it down,” McDavid said. “The third period was clinical. We still had our looks and didn’t find a way to get one past him.”
Karlsson sealed the win with an empty-netter in the final minute.
The Golden Knights held Edmonton’s vaunted power play to one scoreless chance in the second period. The Oilers, the NHL’s highest-scoring team in the regular season, were held to 10 goals over the series’ last four games.
The Knights also outscored Edmonton 17-10 at even strength.
“Our 5-on-5 game, I think it’s been good all year,” Marchessault said. “We were down 1-0 and 2-1 quite often in that series, and we battled back.”
Vegas got on the scoreboard first as Smith scored his second goal in two games off an Edmonton turnover in its own corner. Skinner cleared the puck along the boards into a pair of Vegas jerseys, and the puck came out to Smith in the slot for a goal 24 seconds into the game.
McDavid tied it 31 seconds later with a pass from Brett Kulak and beat Hill with a low shot far side under the goalie’s blocker.
Foegele put the Oilers ahead at 2:43 when he got a backhanded pass from Derek Ryan behind the goal line and scored while driving to the net.
BIG-MINUTE MEN BACK
Both teams had key defensemen back in their lineups Sunday after serving one-game suspensions in Game 5 — Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse and Vegas’ Alex Pietrangelo.
