It's the Mitch Marner Show on Thursday as the Golden Knights extinguish the Flames 6-3

Realistically speaking, this one was probably over when they used literal fire extinguishers to help fix an ice issue that delayed the third period. Not exactly something that Flames vibe with.

Humor aside, though, what a night for the Golden Knights, who picked up another critical two points in the playoff race with a 6-3 stomping of the Calgary Flames. For the third consecutive game, Vegas recovered from a slow start to take control in the second period, as puck luck finally started to go their way. Most importantly, Mitch Marner simply took over this game in a way that can barely be put into words. Let's take a few to break down exactly how well this went for Vegas, now 2-0 in the John Tortorella era!

Good lord, Mitch Marner

Needless to say, the hockey gods have an incredible sense of humor. On the exact same night that the Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated from playoff contention for the first time in a decade, Mitch Marner simply took over this game. In by far the best game of his VGK career and possibly his entire career, Marner factored on all but one of Vegas' six goals, almost singlehandedly carrying the team through a rough first half.

Don't get me wrong, this once again wasn't a perfect game for the Golden Knights; defensive breakdowns and poor goaltending let Calgary score the first goal yet again, and then re-take the lead twice after Vegas (or rather, Marner) had tied it at 1 and 2. However, those two tying goals and a further two timely assists got the Golden Knights out to a 5-3 lead, before Mitch scored this utterly filthy wrap-around goal for the hat trick and his fifth point on the night:

Just an incredible goal, and it makes the hat trick all the better than it came against Dustin Wolf rather than on an empty net just a few moments earlier. This one's for all the people who assumed he'd do poorly under a notoriously fiery coach in John Tortorella; I think we can put that narrative to bed.

In addition, his assist on that last goal gave Mark Stone his 700th career point! With rumors swirling about the potential future of his career, it's good to see him reach the milestone. It's also worth shouting out Ivan Barbashev, who accented Marner's gaudy totals with a goal and two assists himself.

Goaltending remains unsteady with just a few games left

Another major storyline of this one was the return of goaltender Carter Hart. With Adin Hill looking lacklustre in his recent busy stretch and Akira Schmid's ceiling known by this point, Vegas is opting to roll three goaltenders for the remainder of the season in hopes that one can properly earn the job.

Though he emerged with the win on Thursday, Hart sure didn't look like he'd solved much, allowing three goals on his first 14 shots faced (with 22 in total by the end of the game). This does come with the disclaimer that all three basically came on two-on-ones, with defensive breakdowns doing him no favors. However, Morgan Frost's game-opener stands out, as there was no cross-crease pass or other unsavable moves; he just froze (ba dum tss) and beat Hart clean.

Moneypuck also wasn't huge on this performance, with Hart finishing at a not-ideal -1.06 goals saved above average. Again, probably attributable to the Frost goal. With only six games remaining, we have to hope that someone locks in quick, or else this possible playoff run relies entirely on the team outscoring their problems. It'd be ironic if we end up like the Oilers...

...who're actually next up on Saturday, as Vegas begins their final road trip of the season through a few western teams. It's a game with huge playoff implications for both, so let's hope we can finally beat the team that's plagued us since last year.