Golden Knights Tomáš Hertl Exits Game vs Lightning After Dangerous Hit

Vegas Golden Knights forward Tomáš Hertl exited Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at 14:11 in the third period. 

After Andrei Vasilevskiy denied Hertl on a breakaway, Emil Lilleberg leveled him with a hit that sent him flying into the boards. Hertl got up, favoring his right arm, and immediately went down the tunnel. 

This was the hit that knocked Hertl out of the game.

The hit was initially called a five-minute major on the ice. Upon review, the officials reduced the call to a two-minute minor for boarding. The hit was textbook boarding, and the officials reduced it to a minor because of the “degree of violence,” as stated in Rule 41.3. 

Hertl did not return to the game, and William Karlsson took his place on the first power play unit.

Keegan Kolesar slashed Lilleberg when Lilleberg emerged from the penalty box. Nikita Kucherov scored on the Lightning’s ensuing power play.

There are no updates on Hertl’s status at this time.

Update: Hertl is currently being evaluated and will be re-evaluated on Monday. The Golden Knights travel to Minnesota on Monday, so they likely won’t release an update on Hertl’s status until Tuesday.

“He’s getting evaluated now, and he’ll be re-evaluated again tomorrow,” said Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy. “He was sore when he came off, so we’ll see. Maybe we’ll get good news tomorrow.”