Mark Stone won’t require surgery

Desperate for some good news on the injury front, the Vegas Golden Knights received some Tuesday as captain Mark Stone won’t require surgery.

Stone, who was injured last Thursday in the second period of the Knights’ 6-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. He saw a doctor Saturday, saw a different one Monday and according to coach Peter DeBoer, Stone will not need to go under the knife.

“He’s between day-to-day and week-to-week,” DeBoer said after practice at City National Arena in assessing Stone’s status going forward. Stone will miss Wednesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues and probably Friday’s against Edmonton and most likely, Sunday’s game against the Islanders. It’s a three-games-in-five-days stretch at T-Mobile Arena for the Knights, who are 1-1 and have had the last five days off from the NHL’s schedule.

There was more uplifting news. Nicolas Roy skated without restrictions Tuesday and was on a line with Chandler Stephenson and Evgenii Dadonov taking full contact in the drills at practice. Roy last played Sept. 30 when he was injured against the Kings in a preseason game at Salt Lake City.

“I feel good. I’m ready to go,” Roy said. “There’ll be an opportunity for some guys.”

He happens to be one of them as DeBoer tries to find some scoring beyond William Karlsson’s line that includes Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith. Roy said playing with two veterans in Stephenson and Dadonov should help.

“They’re good players,” he said. “We’ll try and bring some momentum when we’re out there.”

In addition, William Carrier and Brett Howden skated for the second straight day and apparently neither player suffered a setback in their attempt to return to the lineup. The duo skated together with Jake Leschyshyn, who was recalled from Henderson of the AHL along with Peyton Krebs, who skated on the third line with Nolan Patrick and Keegan Kolesar.

However, the news wasn’t all positive. Forward Mattias Janmark is still in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol and DeBoer said Janmark will not be available for Wednesday’s game vs. the Blues. DeBoer said Janmark has to have a couple of negative tests before he is cleared to rejoin the team and that has not yet happened.

Regardless of who is out there, finding ways to score will be a challenge for the Golden Knights. It may mean more offensive forays by the defensemen and Zach Whitecloud is prepared to join the rush more if necessary.

“Everyone knows they have to step up,” Whitecloud said. “I think we have the team to do that. Just pay attention to detail and execute.”