EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) 鈥� The Vegas Golden Knights are back in familiar territory in the Western Conference final.
Jonathan Marchessault scored three goals for his second career postseason hat trick as the Golden Knights beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Game 6 of their second-round series on Sunday night to reach the semifinal round for the fourth time in the franchise's six-year history.
鈥淲e鈥檙e only halfway done to our goal here,鈥� Marchessault said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to keep going until our organization, we win the ultimate goal. Tonight is just one step in the right direction.鈥�
Reilly Smith and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights, and Ivan Barbashev had two assists. Adin Hill finished with 39 saves in his third career playoff start.
鈥淚鈥檝e worked very hard my whole life to get to the NHL and to be here,鈥� the 27-year-old Hill said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting being on a team that鈥檚 this good and has chance to really do it all, I鈥檓 grateful and I鈥檓 excited about it.鈥�
Vegas will next face the winner of the series between Dallas and Seattle, which heads to a Game 7 on Monday night.
The Golden Knights still have half a dozen players from the team that reached the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season in 2017-18.
鈥淲e have a lot of older guys on the team that have been through a lot of situations,鈥� Marchessault said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 panic. It鈥檚 one of our strengths and it鈥檚 definitely going to help in the future.鈥�
Connor McDavid and Warren Foegele scored early in the first period for Edmonton, which led 2-1 less than three minutes into the game. Stuart Skinner gave up four goals on 17 shots through two periods, and Jack Campbell stopped all four shots he faced in the third.
The Oilers fell short of returning to the conference final for the second straight year after losing to eventual Stanley Cup champion Colorado a year ago.
鈥淚t hurts,鈥� Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl said with a shaking voice. 鈥淚t鈥檚 tough to find words right now. When you start a season, you鈥檙e in it to win it. We鈥檙e at that stage. If you don鈥檛 complete that, it feels like a failure or a wasted year almost. It hurts.鈥�
Edmonton's loss officially extended the drought for a Canadian team winning the Cup to 30 years since Montreal won in 1993.
Marchessault tied the score 2-2 at 4:26 of second period as the puck redirected off a skate in front of the crease and the right wing fired it into the opening as Skinner slid across the goalmouth to try to stop him.
鈥淎 little bit of lack of execution defensively in the second period ended up really hurting us tonight,鈥� Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said.
Marchessault then put Vegas ahead at 7:44. After a slap shot by Alec Martinez deflected into the air off Skinner鈥檚 shoulder and landed on the goal line, Marchessault tapped it in.
Seconds after a Vegas power play expired late in the middle period, Marchessault completed his hat trick with a 4-on-4 goal with 1:24 remaining. His wrist shot from just above the hash marks on a cross-ice feed from Alex Pietrangelo beat Skinner far side.
Leon Draisaitl, who scored 13 goals in his first eight playoff games, and McDavid were reunited on the same line in the third period in an attempt to produce more offense. The Oilers generated several chances and McDavid rang a shot off the post.
Campbell was pulled for an extra attacker with over three minutes to play in the third, but Hill and the Golden Knights stood firm.
鈥淲hat was the difference? They did a lot of good things, they shut it down,鈥� McDavid said. 鈥淭he third period was clinical. We still had our looks and didn鈥檛 find a way to get one past him.鈥�
Karlsson sealed the win with an empty-netter in the final minute.
The Golden Knights held Edmonton鈥檚 vaunted power play to one scoreless chance in the second period. The Oilers, the NHL鈥檚 highest-scoring team in the regular season, was held to 10 goals over the last four games of the series.
The Knights also outscored Edmonton 17-10 even-strength.
鈥淥ur 5-on-5 game, I think it鈥檚 been good all year,鈥� Marchessault said. 鈥淲e were down 1-0 and 2-1 quite often in that series and we battled back."
Vegas got on the scoreboard first as Smith scored his second in two games off an Edmonton turnover in its own corner. Skinner cleared the puck along the boards into a pair of Vegas jerseys and the puck came out to Smith in the slot for a goal 24 seconds into the game.
McDavid tied it just 31 seconds later as he got a pass from Brett Kulak and beat Hill with a low shot far side under the goalie's blocker.
Foegele put the Oilers ahead at 2:43 when he got a backhanded pass from Derek Ryan from behind the goal line and scored while driving to the net.
BIG-MINUTE MEN BACK
Both clubs had premier defensemen back in their lineups Sunday after they served one-game suspensions in Game 5 鈥� Edmonton鈥檚 Darnell Nurse and Vegas鈥檚 Pietrangelo.
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The Associated Press
