LAS VEGAS -- Before Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, every seat in T-Mobile Arena had a rally towel with Mitch Marner's face printed on it.
By the end of the second period, the Vegas Golden Knights star had made it his night with a record-setting hat trick.
With his natural hat trick in the second period, Marner recorded the fastest three goals by a single player in Cup finals history. He needed six minutes and 10 seconds to score thrice and give Vegas a 4-0 lead. The previous record was three goals in 6:21 in Game 1 of the 1957 Cup finals by Maurice "Rocket" Richard of the Montreal Canadiens vs. the Boston Bruins.
Vegas ended up needing every goal as the Hurricanes stormed back in to tie the score at 4-4 in the third period, before the Knights stole the game back in double overtime to take a 2-1 series lead.
"He's probably one of the best players in the league. He does everything," said coach John Tortorella. "Mitch is Mitch. He does everything as a player. He was certainly a huge piece tonight."
Marner's first goal scored was an own-goal by Carolina defenseman Sean Walker, who tried to deflect Marner's backhand shot out of harm's way but ended up putting it past goalie Frederik Andersen for a 2-0 Vegas lead. Marner was credited with the goal as the last Vegas player to touch the puck.
His second goal was set up on a nice bit of forechecking by defenseman Brayden McNabb, who passed the puck to Marner after a Carolina turnover. Marner deked Andersen for his second goal in 3:50.
McNabb was one of the stories of the game himself, having returned to the Vegas lineup wearing a full face cage after taking an 87 mph shot to his face in Game 2, which sent him to the hospital in Raleigh. Marner completed the hat trick at 16:52 of the second period with a long slap shot from the right circle that beat Andersen. Marner also assisted on Tomas Hertl's power play goal that got Vegas on the board after two disallowed goals earlier in the period.
"Well, I think a lot of guys made great plays to set me up," Marner said. "I think you need five guys on the ice to all be on the same page. And I thought our line did a really good job of that throughout the entire night."
Marner's four points in a single period of a Stanley Cup Final game tied an NHL record set by Frank Foysten of the 1919 Seattle Metropolitans. Also, Marner became the second player in Cup finals history to record a natural hat trick in a single period. Detroit Red Wings star Ted Lindsay had the only other one in 1955.
He had a chance to add another goal in the third period when Sebastian Aho was whistled for slashing him on a shorthanded breakaway, giving Marner a rare penalty shot in the Stanley Cup Final. But Carolina goalie Brandon Bussi, who replaced Andersen to start the third period, made the save.
"I was pretty exhausted, to be honest," Marner said. "I really didn't notice they switched their goalie and I didn't notice he's an offhand as well. I had a lot of different thoughts kind of going through my mind when I was going on that penalty shot, just trying to shoot it quickly or trying to fight a play. I liked my move. I just missed by a hair."
Marner leads the playoffs with 28 points in 19 games, eight points clear of second-leading scorer Jackson Blake of Carolina.
DraftKings has him as the betting favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
