Saturday was supposed to be a chill day for Vegas Golden Knights fans. Their team's in the Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes and everyone is witnessing greatness before their very eyes. That includes the Vegas Vivas, the Belles, and the Drumline. Well, almost.
Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella confirmed the worst news possible for Las Vegas on Saturday. No, it isn't Carter Hart getting another start as he prepares to allow another four goals in a do-or-die situation. Instead, it involves William Karlsson being out for Game 6.
John Tortorella on Carter Hart: he’s ready to go
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 13, 2026
William Karlsson won’t play tomorrow
If you remember Game 5, Karlsson suffered an upper-body injury that knocked him out of commission for the game's remainder. The Golden Knights would end up being doubled up in that game, 4-2. Now? You're facing an elimination game with your backs against the wall and you don't have a key lower-line center for Game 6.
What does that mean for Vegas for the remainder of the series? Well, you had better adopt that "next-man-up" mentality. The Golden Knights have done a great job throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs of leaning into their depth and finding key goal scorers in each series. They've also done well with getting more defensive plays from their role players.
But it goes beyond that. That also means staying out of the penalty box and keeping the red-hot Hurricanes' power play off the board. Carolina has six power play goals in its last four games, relying on power players like Andrei Svechnikov to get the job done.
The upcoming hill looks extremely high for the Golden Knights to climb. History isn't on their side, with 74% of teams winning Game 5 in a 2-2 scenario winning the Stanley Cup. While not having Karlsson hurts them even further, they must rely on the veteran group to carry them past such adversity.
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