Golden Knights knock off Oilers in 6 games to advance to conference finals
Jonathan Marchessault recorded a natural hat trick in the second period and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Game 6 to punch their ticket to the Western Conference Final.
It marks the fourth time in the Golden Knights' six-year history they've advanced to the final four of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Vegas will take on the winner of the Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken, who meet in a Game 7 on Monday in the other conference semifinal.
Adin Hill turned in a tremendous performance in goal for Vegas, making 38 consecutive saves after allowing the first two shots of the game to get by. Hill began the series as the backup goalie to Laurent Brossoit, but thrived upon entering in relief of his injured teammate in Game 2.
"He was a wall back there at the end," Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said, according to The Athletic's Jesse Granger.
The same can't be said in the Edmonton crease. Stuart Skinner was pulled for the third time in the series after allowing four goals on 17 shots through two periods. Jack Campbell entered in relief and stopped all four shots he faced in the third period. Skinner finished his first postseason with an .883 save percentage.
"It's hard to take this one on the chin," said Skinner, per The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman.
The contest got off to a roaring start. Reilly Smith opened the scoring for Vegas 24 seconds in. The Oilers responded with a goal from Connor McDavid 31 seconds later and another one from Warren Foegele at the 2:43 mark, jumping out to a 2-1 lead less than three minutes into the game. That was all the offense Edmonton would get.
Marchessault scored three consecutive goals in the second period, two of which were assisted by Ivan Barbashev. The Oilers pressed in the final frame and generated many glorious chances, but Hill shut the door, notably robbing Mattias Ekholm with an excellent blocker save midway through the third. William Karlsson notched the empty-netter to put the icing on the cake.
Edmonton's elimination ensures a Canadian team won't win the Stanley Cup for the 30th straight year.
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