The Vegas Golden Knights advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a convincing 5-1 victory over the Utah Mammoth in Game 6 of their Western Conference first-round series on Friday night at Delta Center.

Mitch Marner led the way with two goals and an assist, while Brett Howden opened the scoring in the first period and extended his goal streak to three games. Kailer Yamamoto, Colton Sissons, and Cole Smith also scored for Vegas, which improved to 4-2 in the best-of-seven series. Carter Hart was stellar in net for the Golden Knights, posting a 1.01 goals-against average and .957 save percentage for the series.

Vegas took a 1-0 lead at 15:02 of the first period on Howden's goal, assisted by Marner and Mark Stone. Marner made it 2-0 late in the second at 19:15 with helpers from Ivan Barbashev and Noah Hanifin. Utah cut the deficit to 2-1 early in the third before Yamamoto responded at 7:41, assisted by Mikhail Sergachev and MacKenzie Weegar. Sissons pushed the lead to 3-1 shortly after, and Marner added a power-play goal at 12:09 with assists from Shea Theodore and Jack Eichel. Smith sealed the win with an empty-netter at 16:24.

The series had been tight, with Vegas securing a 5-4 double-overtime win in Game 5 behind Pavel Dorofeyev's hat trick and Howden's short-handed winner to take a 3-2 lead. Utah had won the first playoff game in franchise history, a 4-2 victory in Game 3 to grab a 2-1 series edge.

The Golden Knights, the Pacific Division's No. 1 seed, will now face the Anaheim Ducks in the second round. Anaheim advanced by defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Game 6 of their series, marking their first second-round appearance since 2017. The Ducks went 3-0-0 against Vegas in the regular season, but the Golden Knights hold home-ice advantage as the higher seed.

Ducks coach Joel Quenneville expressed excitement about the matchup, noting his young team's upside. Forward Leo Carlsson echoed that sentiment, calling it a fun series either way against familiar foes.

Game 1 of the second round is scheduled soon, with Vegas looking to build on its playoff experience.