Shea Theodore, Mark Stone, and Brayden McNabb set to return to Vegas Golden Knights lineup
The Vegas Golden Knights got plenty of good news about the state of their roster ahead of their second round matchup against the Edmonton Oilers.
Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed that winger Mark Stone and defensemen Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb will be in the lineup for Game 1 of the second round on Wednesday night.
“They’re in.”
– Bruce Cassidy on Brayden McNabb, Shea Theodore and Mark Stone
🚜 🐻 🗿
Theodore had missed the Golden Knight’s 4-1 Game 5 win over the Winnipeg Jets with an illness. He had played in the first four games of the series, with three assists in those games. He had a bit of an injury-riddled regular season, only playing 55 games, but registering 8 goals, 33 assists, and 41 points in that span, a 61-point pace that would have been a career-high for the defenseman.
McNabb also missed Game 5 against the Jets, as he was listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He also played in the first four games of the series, going pointless in that span. His regular season was about par for the course for his usual career numbers, with a goal, 16 assists, and 17 points in 82 games for the Golden Knights.
Stone hasn’t missed a game in the playoffs yet, but he did leave practice early on Tuesday after moving gingerly on the ice, and he didn’t skate for Wednesday’s optional, so there was some concerns on if he would play in Game 1. He had an excellent first round series against the Jets, with three goals, five assists, and eight points in those five games. He’s gotten into form quickly after recovering from back surgery that kept him out of the lineup for most of the second half of the regular season, although he was playing well before that with 17 goals, 21 assists, and 38 points in 43 games.
Defensemen Ben Hutton and Brayden Pachal will draw out of the lineup in place of Theodore and McNabb for Wednesday’s game against the Oilers. Both were held pointless in Game 5, while Hutton drew into 31 regular season games with three goals, five assists, and eight points, and Pachal played 10 regular season games with two assists this season, the first NHL action of his career.