Vegas Golden Knights get great injury news regarding Jeremy Lauzon and Pavel Dorofeyev

The Vegas Golden Knights might not have as many troublesome injury problems as many people thought. People were worried about Pavel Dorofeyev after aggravating an injury against the New York Islanders. However, it appears that those concerns were overblown with a simple on-ice appearance on Monday.

That's a major bullet dodged by the Golden Knights. You don't lose a key winger who has 13 goals, with eight coming on the power play. Everything looks good in Las Vegas, specifically with the offensive side. But wait! There's more!

The Golden Knights also got a blue line boost in Jeremy Lauzon. He returned to the ice in a red no-contact jersey, skating alongside Dorofeyev.

Lauzon has been well-versed in administering hits... lots of them. We're talking about 57 hits in 17 games. But he's been a surprising offensive contributor, scoring four goals in that span. Add 26 blocked shots and he's been quietly productive during the season.

But the main problem with Lauzon is the whole penalty minutes shtick. He has 28 penalty minutes this season, which still leads the Golden Knights, despite nearly playing half the games of full-time stars like Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner. That takes a ton of... resiliency (I guess?) to make that happen.

Why having Jeremy Lauzon and Pavel Dorofeyev matters for the Vegas Golden Knights

First, we must look at Dorofeyev. The aforementioned benefits of having one of your leading scorers stand out. However, there's an additional benefit to keeping him around: Dorofeyev's shooting. He has a shooting percentage of 15.7%, a Corsi of 65%, and a Fenwick of 64%.

Obviously, you don't want to lose an offensive player, specifically if he's one of the best. That's especially true when you've won six of your last seven games. Losing a player like Dorofeyev halts the momentum, especially when you've scored enough goals to win in several games.

Surprisingly, Lauzon adds some elements to the Golden Knights himself. Aside from chipping in four assists this season, he also adds his patented hits to the mix, protecting the key players. Imagine if someone goes after Dorofeyev for some odd reason. Who would you want in that situation? Why, you need a Lauzon to chuck the knucks and administer some justice.

But what happens with Ben Hutton? That's the big question that should be evaluated once Lauzon actually returns. Hutton's done a great job filling in on the blue line, giving the Golden Knights a surprising amount of offense (four goals and five assists!) and solid stay-at-home defense.

Monday offered a bit of relief for Golden Knights fans on the injury front. You have a starting defenseman back on the ice and a key winger who appears to be okay. All of this good news adds to the momentum that Vegas currently has, giving the fan base more confidence for a big run.