Karlsson leaves Game 5 loss, could miss rest of Cup Final for Golden Knights

RALEIGH, N.C. -- William Karlsson could miss the rest of the Stanley Cup Final for the Vegas Golden Knights after the forward left Game 5 in the second period on Thursday.

“He’s not going to be with us probably,” coach John Tortorella said after a 4-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center which put Vegas behind 3-2 in the best-of-7 series. “We’ve got to find a way to fill that void. Not just with one guy, but as a team.” 

Karlsson’s last shift came at 8:26 of the second period, when he skated to the bench not long after he was hit along the glass behind Carolina's net by Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker. 

Karlsson’s left arm went into the glass as Walker hit him on the right side.

Karlsson, who was favoring his left arm/wrist as a Golden Knights trainer attended to him, went to the room during a stoppage at 8:35. 

ESPN’s Emily Kaplan later reported Karlsson was seen leaving Lenovo Center to go get more tests. 

“He’s an important piece to us,” Tortorella said. “Up the middle of the ice, penalty kill, power-play guy. He’s a winner.”

If the 33-year-old is unable to play the rest of Final, the injury on Thursday would mark the end of a frustrating season for the original Golden Knight. 

He missed most of the regular season, playing in Vegas’ first 14 games before sustaining a lower-body injury that would keep him out until Game 1 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Anaheim Ducks. 

“It’s tough, he’s done a great job coming back,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “He’s an awesome player, a big leader in the room. He’s a Day 1 guy. Been around a long time, he’s a 200-foot player. You definitely miss him when he’s not in there. So hopefully he can play, but if not, we’ll be ready.”

Including Game 5, Karlsson has nine points (three goals, six assists) and a plus-10 rating while averaging 17:12 of ice time in 15 postseason games. He was part of a dynamic line with Mitch Marner (three goals, five assists in the Final) and Brett Howden (four goals, two assists). 

“When we lose Bill, it kind of screws things up a bit,” Tortorella said. “So, we’ll see where we go with our lines.”

The game was tied 1-1 when Karlsson left. About 30 seconds after Karlsson’s last shift, the Golden Knights took penalties 2:01 apart, the first a roughing to Jeremy Lauzon at 8:56 and the second a cross-checking to McNabb at 10:57. 

Andrei Svechnikov scored on the second power play to give Carolina a 2-1 lead at 11:58. Sebastian Aho scored at 17:51 to make it a 3-1 game.

“We lost momentum when we went back-to-back with penalties,” Tortorella said. “It’s about the same time we lost Bill.”

But for how long? While Tortorella first said he had no update, he did later say he probably won’t be available for a do-or-die Game 6 back at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC). 

“It’s tough,” center Jack Eichel said. “You lose someone like ‘Karl’ who’s so valuable to our team and playing so well. But it just means everyone else has to step up.

“He means so much. He’s a world-class player. He plays in all situations. He’s extremely reliable in our own zone, and he creates a lot of offense. So, he’s a huge part of our group.”

Selected by Vegas in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, Karlsson has 453 points (183 goals, 270 assists) in 752 regular-season games with the Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Golden Knights. He also has 83 points (36 goals, 47 assists) in 126 postseason games, including 17 points (11 goals, six assists) in 22 games in 2023, when he helped Vegas win the Stanley Cup.

This is not the first time Vegas has had to play without a key player in the Final. In Game 2, McNabb took a puck to the face at 10:52 of the first period and didn’t return in a 4-3 overtime loss. He did return in Game 3, which Vegas won 5-4 in double overtime. 

Forward Tomas Hertl said the Knights have enough players in the room to get it done if Karlsson can’t play the rest of the way. 

“When you are losing one of the best players, a centerman, two-way, it’s never easy to see somebody go down and hopefully we’ll have him back,” Hertl said. “I don’t know what happened, but we still have enough good players to handle it.” 

Tortorella is so confident in his team, he all but guaranteed they will be back in Raleigh for a Game 7 on June 17. 

“We’re just going to get ready for our next game,” Tortorella said. “We’ll be back here. We’re just going to do it in a different order.”