Vegas D-man Brayden McNabb’s Stanley Cup Final status is unclear after taking a puck to the face

Vegas went the rest of the way with just five defencemen. McNabb’s exit had a domino effect that led those guys to play more minutes than usual, and in particular, Jeremy Lauzon was on the ice for all four Carolina goals, with one shot banking in off him, another partially the result of him losing a one-on-one battle with William Carrier and Seth Jarvis’ overtime winner going past him.

“You lose a guy like Nabber who logs heavy minutes, such a good teammate, plays the game so hard, it’s tough,” captain Mark Stone said. “They battled as hard as they could.”

McNabb was coming off the first three-assist performance of his NHL career in Game 1. He is one of three original Golden Knights players who have been around for the franchise’s entire nine-year existence and are in the final for a third time.

“He’s a vital part of this team,” said centre William Karlsson, who also has been around since the beginning. “He’s been here for a long time and has been vital every year. I think he is extremely good defensively, helps us out in PK situations and stuff like that. Of course, tough to not have him for the remainder of that game.”

The Golden Knights had their optimum, healthy lineup back for the series opener when Lauzon returned from the puck-to-the-head injury that had sidelined him since the second round. That did not last long.

Either Ben Hutton, a left-handed shooter, or Kaedan Korczak, who was playing in place of Lauzon, figures to play in Game 3 on Saturday if McNabb is unavailable.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

Vegas D-man Brayden McNabb’s Stanley Cup Final status is unclear after taking a puck to the face

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