LAS VEGAS (Interstat) — Mitchell Marner recorded a hat trick with three goals and an assist, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in a shootout Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena to take a 2-1 lead in their National Hockey League playoff series.

Marner, a 6-foot, 180-pound right wing, peppered the net with 10 shots on goal. He scored three times in the second period as Vegas built a 4-0 lead before Carolina stormed back with four goals in the third period to force overtime and eventually a shootout. Marner also set up Tomas Hertl’s goal early in the second period.

Jordan Staal led the Hurricanes’ comeback with a goal and an assist on five shots. Taylor Hall and Jordan Martinook each scored once, and Logan Stankoven had an assist for Carolina. Shea Theodore contributed a goal and an assist for Vegas, along with three shots, two penalty minutes and three hits. Brayden McNabb added two assists, Hertl finished with a goal and an assist, William Karlsson had an assist, and Brett Howden also recorded an assist.

The game was scoreless through the first period, with both teams trading chances but failing to convert. Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen stopped 15 shots in the opening frame, while Vegas netminder Carter Hart made 12 saves.

Vegas broke through in the second period. Hertl opened the scoring at 20:26 of the period, beating Andersen with a wrist shot off assists from Jack Eichel and Marner. Just 16 seconds later, Marner scored on a backhand from Karlsson and Theodore. Marner added his second of the period at 28:32 on a backhand from McNabb, then completed the hat trick at 32:52 with a slap shot set up by Hertl. The three goals came in a span of 12 minutes, 26 seconds.

Andersen was replaced by Brandon Bussi to start the third period after allowing four goals on 27 shots. Bussi made 36 saves over the remainder of regulation and overtime.

Carolina began its rally early in the third. Martinook cut the deficit to 4-1 at 21:03, scoring on a wrist shot from Seth Jarvis and Stankoven. Hall made it 4-2 at 21:29, converting a pass from Sebastian Aho and Jackson Blake. Staal pulled the Hurricanes within one at 21:42, tipping in a shot from Jaccob Slavin and Eric Robinson. Andrei Svechnikov tied the game at 54:18 of the third, firing a wrist shot past Hart with assists from Staal and Aho.

Neither team scored in the 20-minute overtime period. Bussi stopped all eight shots he faced in overtime, while Hart made six saves.

In the shootout, Vegas scored once to win the game. Carolina went scoreless in the shootout.

Attendance was announced at 18,233.

The series continues with Game 4 on Tuesday in Las Vegas.

Carolina’s season record moved to 66 wins and 32 losses. Vegas improved to 53 wins and 48 losses.

Penalties in the game included Carolina’s too-many-men infraction in the second period, a slash on Sebastian Aho that resulted in a penalty shot for Marner in the third, a delay-of-game call on Seth Jarvis in the third, and a delay-of-game penalty on Shea Theodore in the third. Vegas’s Cole Smith was called for holding the stick in the third.

Marner’s performance extended his strong postseason run. He had two assists in a 4-3 overtime loss to Carolina on June 4 and an assist in a 5-4 win on June 2. In the previous round, he recorded two shots and two hits in a 2-1 win over Colorado.

The Hurricanes’ previous results included a 4-3 overtime win over Vegas on June 4 and a 5-4 loss to the Golden Knights on June 2. Carolina also swept Philadelphia in the first round and defeated Montreal in seven games.

Vegas entered the game on a 5-1 win over Carolina on June 2 and a 3-4 overtime loss to the Hurricanes on June 4. The Golden Knights defeated Colorado in five games in the prior round.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Vegas 5, Carolina 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Carolina with a 56.70 percent probability to win. Vegas had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 9 went under the over/under line of 5.5.