Friday night was all about Mitch Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights as they put the Anaheim Ducks to the sword and exercised some good ol’ fashioned playoffs dominance en route to a 6-2 win in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.
Marner racked up four points as Vegas showed Anaheim what’s what to take a 2-1 lead in the series after the win at the Honda Center.
Mitch Marner Addresses Elevating His Game Since Leaving Maple Leafs
Marner had his first career Stanley Cup Playoff hat trick on Friday night, and also set a personal postseason high with those four points.
After the game, Marner was naturally put front and center on NHL on TNT to talk about his electric night. Paul Bissonnette asked Marner if he felt he proved his doubters (like himself) wrong after hearing a fair bit of criticism for being on a milk carton in the playoffs back in his Toronto Maple Leafs days.
“I feel like I just wanna go out there and play my game. I feel like I’ve been doing it for a while,” Marner said.
“I know that probably people think that the results weren’t coming in the past, but sometimes that’s what happens. My mindset going in always is try not to get frustrated, know it’s always a rollercoaster ride, stuff’s not always going to go your way, sometimes it will. Just go out there and do what I do.”
Marners joined the boys mid Biz cry session (over missing him) to talk about his hat trick and the Knights taking game 3😂⚔️ pic.twitter.com/2AgAD4h1cN
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) May 9, 2026
With those four points on Friday night, Marner is currently leading the 2026 playoffs with 13 points (6 goals and 7 assists), quite a feat for a man who made precious little noise in the postseason back in Toronto.
Marner has already exceeded his Leafs tally of playoff goals in a single postseason by banging in six goals in nine games with Vegas this year. All in all, it looks like Marner could very well go on to win the Conn Smythe this year. He certainly has Bissonnette’s vote.
Mitch gonna win the Conn Smythe for Christ sakes
— Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) May 9, 2026
However, there’s little time for the Golden Knights to rest on their laurels. Game 4 being Sunday night in Anaheim means Vegas will have a short turnaround to fully take control of the series.
Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville knows Anaheim can’t afford to let Mitch Marner’s Golden Knights run amok.
“I think there’s a lesson to take out of today’s game. It’s only gonna get harder every single game. Not gonna get any easier. So let’s get ready to go to war,” was the Anaheim head coach’s message for his troops.
