Though they remain heavy favorites ahead of Thursday night’s game versus the Montreal Canadiens, the Vegas Golden Knights will look for a win without one of their best players in Mark Stone.
Stone, who has already missed significant time this season due to injury, will be out of the lineup on Thursday after being placed on the league’s COVID-19 protocol list. The 29-year-old was put on the list Thursday afternoon, and may be forced to miss additional time on top of tonight’s game, though that is not yet known.
“I might as well get all the injury stuff out of the way now. Stone is in COVID protocol, so he’s out,” DeBoer said on Thursday. “(Hague) is in COVID protocol, so while he’s coming back from an injury, he’s not available because of that.”
When Stone has been healthy this season, he has been one of the Golden Knights’ best offensive contributors with 26 points in 23 games. Unfortunately, both he and many other Golden Knights have struggled to stay healthy this season. Heading into Thursday’s game, they will be without Jack Eichel, Alec Martinez, Max Pacioretty, Laurent Brossoit, Logan Thompson, and of course both Stone and Hague.
The good news for the team is that after tonight’s game, they don’t play again until Monday. This could give both Stone and Hague enough time to get cleared and play in a game that will come against the Washington Capitals. That remains to be seen, but what should have been a slam dunk victory tonight over a struggling Habs team may not be as easy of a game as everyone had thought after this news.
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