Stone returns for the Golden Knights in Game 1 of the Western First Round. Forward faces the Stars after missing the previous 26 regular-season games due to a lacerated spleen.
Mark Stone returned to the Vegas Golden Knights for Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round against the Dallas Stars on Monday at American Airlines Centre.
The forward missed the final 26 regular-season games due to a lacerated spleen.
“I’m excited,” Stone stated following the morning skate. “I am going to play tonight. I am convinced that I am healthy and ready to go, so why wait? “Might as well get in there and play.”
Stone will form a line with forward Chandler Stephenson and centre Tomas Hertl. He has frequently played with Stephenson over the last five seasons, but never with Hertl, whom the Golden Knights acquired in a trade with the San Jose Sharks on March 8. Hertl has appeared in only six games for Vegas.
“The question mark will be Hertl,” coach Bruce Cassidy stated. “How do they read off one another? Et cetera. They’re both smart players. I believe they will figure it out. How long will it take? I do not know. I don’t have a decent explanation because they haven’t played together before, and Tomas is still figuring out how we play. At the least, Mark has
“I know we didn’t play any games together, but hopefully we build some chemistry right away, because we know our team will need it,” Hertl joked.
Stone, the Golden Knights’ captain, was leading the team with 53 points (16 goals, 37 assists) before he suffered the injury in a 5-3 loss to the Nashville Predators on February 20.
“The first couple weeks were real tough,” Stone said. “You can’t really do anything physical. You’re kind of just sitting around waiting for it to heal. Then it gets even harder, because you actually start to feel better relatively quickly, but you look at the scans, and you’re nowhere close to healthy.”
It was different than last season, when Stone missed the last 39 regular-season games to recover from back surgery and returned for the opener of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He had 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in 22 games, third on the Golden Knights. Vegas won the Cup.
“I think last year I had more of a distinct timeline,” Stone said. “This year, I wasn’t super confident that I’d be standing here today ready to go. The timeline was a lot more — not delicate, but I guess, longer. I had some people tell me it was eight weeks, some people tell me it was six months. It was just a wait-and-see, see how the scans go.
“Obviously fortunate to be able to get those scans as frequently as I can. I think last week, last scan I did, I felt like I was moving in the right direction, getting close to playing, and the last scan kind of confirmed it, and now I’m ready to go.”
Cassidy said Stone’s minutes would not be limited in Game 1.