Mark Stone will not play for the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final after missing Game 1 at Ball Arena; the veteran forward remains sidelined with a lower-body injury that he suffered in Game 3 of the second-round series against the Anaheim Ducks.
Stone last skated in that Game 3 of the second round and left the ice midway through the first period favoring his left leg after backchecking on a power play. He did not return to the lineup, and Vegas advanced past Anaheim in six games without him. The club announced Friday that Stone has been ruled out for Game 2, after he also did not play in Wednesday’s Game 1 against the Colorado Avalanche.
The numbers underline what the Golden Knights are missing. Stone had 73 points in 60 regular-season games — 28 goals and 45 assists — and has seven points in nine Stanley Cup Playoff games this spring. He helped Vegas win the Stanley Cup in 2023 and is the franchise’s all-time leader in playoff goals and playoff points.
Coach John Tortorella declined to offer a timeline. "There's no update on injuries right now," he said, and reiterated: "I know he was on the ice. You saw that. But there's no update." Tortorella also framed Stone’s value beyond the scoresheet, saying, "He's just a presence. He's won here. He's so well respected in the room. I love the way he handles himself. He doesn't say a lot, but he carries himself the proper way."
Stone did take the ice at the arena the morning before Game 1 — skating with what appeared to be the team’s scratches — a step noted by Jesse Granger of The Athletic as the first time he had skated with the team since suffering the lower-body injury. That brief appearance created cautious optimism among teammates and fans, but the team’s medical and coaching staff kept the door closed on a return.
Teammate Keegan Kolesar, speaking to the locker-room dynamic during Stone’s absence, summed up the internal response: "It's always a next-man-up mentality," he said, and added, "With guys like him, it's hard to do that." Kolesar credited others for picking up the slack: "I think guys took it upon themselves last series, like Mitch and ‘Pav,’" he said. "They pulled their socks up and helped contribute in the offensive department with his absence."
The timing of the injury and Stone’s playoff pedigree heighten the stakes. He has appeared on Selke ballots nine times and been a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy twice, marking him as one of the league’s top defensive forwards over his career. His seven playoff points this spring are part of a larger body of postseason production that has made him central to Vegas’s identity in deep runs.
There is a clear tension: Stone’s morning skate hinted at progress, but the team moved forward without him in consecutive conference-final games. Tortorella pointed to another piece of the roster puzzle when he noted the return of William Karlsson earlier in the second round, saying, "When we lost 'Stoney,' I thought it was a huge plus for us that we were getting (Karlsson) back in the lineup to fill some of that, because I think Stoney brings that also." Karlsson’s presence helped absorb some of the vacuum Stone’s injury created, but numbers and history show that replacing Stone’s two-way game and playoff scoring is no small task.
The most consequential unanswered question now is whether that skate with the scratches was the first step toward a near-term comeback or simply a one-off test as he continues rehabbing a lower-body injury: if Stone cannot return before the series reaches its decisive moments, Vegas will have to rely on the same collective adjustments that carried it through the second round — and that will shape how the Golden Knights try to contain Colorado and manufacture offense without one of their franchise playoff leaders.
