Vegas can put the Ducks in a bad spot Sunday.
Or Anaheim can turn this into a best-of-three.
That is the edge sitting in front of Game 4 at Honda Center, where the Golden Knights will try to build on their sharpest game of the series and take a 3-1 lead back to T-Mobile Arena. Vegas leads the second-round series 2-1 after a 6-2 win Friday, but John Tortorella was not treating Game 3 like a finished product.
Still Room To Clean
Vegas got almost everything it needed Friday. The Knights scored first, quieted the building and led 3-0 before the first intermission.
Shea Theodore opened the scoring at 1:06, Brayden McNabb added a shorthanded goal, and Mitch Marner scored with five seconds left in the period. Still, Tortorella kept the focus on what comes next.
“We were opportunistic, that’s for sure,” Tortorella said. “There’s still a lot of things we need to clean up in our game, but we found a way.”
That matters because Game 4 will not be about duplicating a 6-2 score. Instead, it will be about repeating the habits that produced it.
Jack Eichel called the Knights “assertive” in Game 3. He liked the start, the competitiveness and the penalty kill. However, he also pointed to the simple playoff math: keep making Anaheim defend.
“Continue to try and make it hard on them,” Eichel said. “Spend as much time as we can in their end.”
Marner Owns The Moment
Marner enters Game 4 as one of the best stories in the postseason. He had a natural hat trick and four points in Game 3.
He now has 13 points in nine playoff games, which ranks second in the NHL postseason. His six goals are also tied near the top of the playoff leaderboard, and he has become the Knights’ most dangerous offensive driver in this series.
The old playoff criticism around Marner has not followed him onto the ice. Tortorella made that clear Saturday.
“That narrative is a bunch of shit,” Tortorella said. “Mitch doesn’t care. Mitch is a pro. He’s a terrific player, one of the top players in this league, and he plays for us.”
Eichel echoed the same idea. He said Marner was “spectacular from the puck drop” and called him a world-class player.
For Vegas, that is more than a nice quote. It is a matchup problem for Anaheim. Marner is scoring in different ways, and he set up McNabb’s shorthanded goal before scoring on the power play and at even strength.
As a result, the Ducks cannot treat him as a one-lane threat.
The PK Keeps Swinging It
The penalty kill remains one of the biggest edges in the series. Anaheim went 0-for-2 on the power play in Game 3, while Vegas turned one Ducks chance into McNabb’s shorthanded goal.
That flipped the first period. Instead of Anaheim tying the game, Vegas built a 2-0 lead and never gave the Ducks clean footing again.
Eichel credited the structure and detail.
“I think just the attention to detail,” Eichel said. “Johnny takes a lot of pride in it, and I think he does a really good job of conveying his message and our game plan.”
Anaheim’s power play hurt Edmonton in the first round. However, it has not broken through against Vegas.
If that continues Sunday, the Ducks will need to win at five-on-five. That is possible, but it becomes a harder path if Carter Hart keeps giving Vegas this level of stability.
Hart is 6-3 this postseason with a 2.39 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. He stopped 31 of 33 shots in Game 3, and Tortorella kept his review simple.
“Carter is a really good goalie,” he said.
Wild Bill, Real Options
William Karlsson’s return also keeps growing in importance. Karlsson had an assist on Marner’s third goal Friday, but his value is bigger than one point.
He gives Tortorella another trusted player in every situation. Tortorella called Karlsson “a proven star” and “a major asset” in the second round.
Eichel said Karlsson has made it look like he has been with the group all along. That is not a small thing after nearly six months out.
Karlsson’s presence gives Vegas more flexibility down the middle, more defensive trust and more options if lines need to shuffle. That could matter even more if Mark Stone is unavailable.
Stone left Game 3 with an apparent lower-body injury. Tortorella said Saturday there was no update and made it clear he would not offer injury details.
So, the Knights may need the same next-man-up approach they used Friday. Eichel said the group did not “break stride” after Stone left.
The Swing Game
Ben Hutton said Vegas still has another step, and that is the right mindset for Game 4. The Knights were better in Game 3, but Anaheim will push back.
The Ducks are at home, trailing in the series and facing the possibility of returning to Las Vegas one loss from elimination. A fast start would help Vegas control the crowd again.
Hutton said “anytime you can quiet the crowd, especially early, it’s fun.”
However, the Knights do not need another avalanche. They need the same details: smart puck decisions, pressure below the goal line, disciplined special teams and Hart giving them the saves they need.
A win gives Vegas a commanding 3-1 series lead. A loss sends the series back to the Fortress tied 2-2, with all the tension that comes with it.
Game 4 is Sunday at Honda Center. Puck drop is 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
