Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore was trailing the play and didn’t get a good look at it.
“From the glimpse I saw,” he said, “it was just so sick.”
It wasn’t a showboat move. It was the most efficient way for Marner to put the puck in the net.
“That’s him, though,” Theodore said. “That’s him. He’s so good on his edges, and he’s so good at finding different ways to get things done. I mean, you’ll see him kind of kicking pucks between his legs here and there and going between the legs. But that was a cool goal.”
A cool assist came next.
During an Anaheim power play, the Ducks rimmed the puck around the boards in the Vegas zone but failed to stop it. Marner grabbed it and skated up ice toward LaCombe and Ducks forward Alex Killorn, weaving to the right, weaving to the left, buying time for Brett Howden to find open ice.
Finally, Marner threaded the puck between LaCombe and Killorn, and Howden one-timed it into the net for a short-handed goal to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead at 8:30.
“I just tried building up some speed, and then I thought he was going to kick it out to me, and he didn’t,” Howden said. “He just kind of stayed patient, stayed patient, and when he has the puck on his stick, I try to just get to the net and find some space. And lucky enough, I found some space, and he made the play.”
Howden tied the NHL record with his third short-handed goal of the playoffs. Marner assisted on the other two too.
“I feel like me and Mitch are kind of building a little something here,” said Howden, who has eight goals in the playoffs and often has skated with Marner at even strength as well. “I’m learning to read off of him and his instincts and trying to get to the front of the net, and he’s made some incredible plays to me.”
Marner won two of 11 playoff series in nine seasons in Toronto, and he had 11 points (one goal, 10 assists) in 26 games in Games 5-7.
He’s now 2-for-2 in playoff series in his first season with Vegas, and he has six points (three goals, three assists) in four games in Games 5-7. He had two goals and an assist when the Golden Knights eliminated the Utah Mammoth with a 5-1 win in Game 6 of the first round.
The Avalanche, the top team in the NHL in the regular season, will be a bigger challenge. Game 1 is at Ball Arena in Denver on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).
“It obviously feels great,” Marner said. “We worked extremely hard for all these little goals that we set throughout the year, and another one achieved. But obviously, the work just keeps getting harder and harder. We’ve got to take these couple days, whatever we have, and try to refuel and refresh and be ready to go.”
