Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb was taken to a hospital for further evaluation after being struck in the face by a puck during the first period of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night. Carolina won 4-3 in overtime.
The play happened at 10:52 of the first period. McNabb was battling for position in front of the Vegas net when Hurricanes forward Nikolaj Ehlers fired a slapshot that was clocked at 87 mph. The puck hit McNabb directly in the nose and mouth area. He went down immediately, clutched his face, and skated off to the locker room under his own power.
He didn't return. ESPN's Emily Kaplan reported that McNabb left the building wearing flip flops and was taken to a local hospital.
McNabb had just put together his best game of the playoffs in Game 1, recording three assists the first three-assist game of his career as Vegas won 5-4. He'd been averaging nearly 21 minutes of ice time per game this postseason and leads the Golden Knights all-time in blocked shots and hits.
Without McNabb, Vegas's remaining five defensemen — Shea Theodore, Rasmus Andersson, Noah Hanifin, Jeremy Lauzon, and Dylan Coghlan picked up extra minutes. It wasn't enough. Carolina tied the series at one game apiece with the overtime win.
"It's a scary play," Vegas forward Brett Howden told reporters. "You never want to see that. Just hope he's doing all right."
The series heads to Las Vegas for Game 3 with McNabb's status unknown.