LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists as the Vegas Golden Knights earned a Western Conference Finals victory after beating the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Friday night .
Mark Stone, Reilly Smith and Nic Hague also scored, and Jonathan Marchessault tied a playoff record with three assists for the Golden Knights, who took a 3-2 series lead. Adin Hill made 31 saves.
Connor McDavid scored two power-play goals for the Oilers, Zach Hyman had a goal and an assist, and Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had two assists. Stuart Skinner was retired late in the second period after giving up four goals on 22 shots, and Jack Campbell stopped all nine shots he faced in relief.
Game 6 Sunday in Edmonton, Alberta.
Both teams played without key defenders. The Knights were without Alex Pietrangelo, who was suspended for that game for hitting Leon Draisaitl late in Game 4 on Wednesday. Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse sat out after being suspended for instigating and misconduct in the same game.
McDavid and Hyman scored in the first 10 minutes to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead. McDavid’s goal came just 3:02 from the start of the game to continue the trend.
The Oilers have scored in the first 6:46 of every game this season and in the first four minutes all but once. Vegas responded to early deficits to come back and win Games 1 and 3, but never recovered in the other two of what became one-sided Oilers wins.
The Knights, however, scored three goals 1:29 into the second period to take a 4-2 lead. Those are the three fastest goals in a playoff game in Vegas’ six-year history.
Two goals came on essentially the same power play – Stone at 5-on-3 and Smith’s first of these playoffs on a 5-on-4. Hague scored shortly after near the blue line to chase Skinner, the third times in the playoffs that he was retired.
Just when it looked like Vegas would come into full swing in the third period, Keegan Kolesar pushed Edmonton’s Mattias Ekholm into the boards with 20.9 seconds left. Kolesar was ejected with a game misconduct penalty, and the Oilers had a five-minute power play for the Major at the boarding.
McDavid scored 2:40 into the third period, but it was the only goal on the power play, allowing the Knights to hold their lead at 4-3. It was McDavid’s seventh goal in these playoffs.
McDAVID FOR LEAGUE MVP
McDavid is one of three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the league’s most valuable player. He led the NHL in goals (64), assists (89) and points (153) this season. All were career highs.
If he won, it would be McDavid’s second Hart Trophy in three years and third since 2017.
Boston Bruins forwards David Pastrnak and Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk are also up for the Hart.
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AP NHL Playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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