Mitch Marner delivered his first hat trick with the Vegas Golden Knights, adding two assists for a season-high five points, as Vegas defeated the Calgary Flames 6-3 on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena.
The win improved the Golden Knights to 2-0 under new coach John Tortorella and capped a bizarre night that included a 25-minute ice delay before the third period. The delay was caused by a zamboni mishap that scraped a hole in the ice near the City of Las Vegas decal on the visitors’ side, requiring ice crew members to use fire extinguishers to smooth the surface.
“It was a weird one,” said Tortorella, who took over after the team fired Bruce Cassidy earlier this week. “But the guys stayed focused and found a way.”
Brett Howden broke a 3-3 tie with 7:41 remaining in the third period, and Ivan Barbashev added an insurance goal with 5:01 to go. Marner sealed the win with a wrap-around goal with 1:29 left, completing his hat trick.
Pavel Dorofeyev scored his team-leading 35th goal of the season, a power-play tally late in the first period that tied the game 3-3. Goaltender Carter Hart made 19 saves in his return after missing nearly three months with a lower-body injury.
Calgary’s first three goals all came on 2-on-1 rushes off Vegas turnovers. Morgan Frost opened the scoring at 7:41 of the first period after Kaedan Korczak’s turnover. Blake Coleman added two goals, both on odd-man rushes — one after Dorofeyev lost the puck and another off a bad pinch by Rasmus Andersson.
Marner tied the game twice in the first period, first deflecting Shea Theodore’s shot at 1:47, then scoring off a feed from Andersson at 6:42.
Former Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud played 24:38 in his first game against his former team. Whitecloud was traded to Calgary on Jan. 18 in exchange for Andersson.
The Golden Knights went 2-0-2 on their homestand and now begin a four-game road trip Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers in a pivotal Pacific Division matchup.




















