Vegas captain Stone game-time decision; Kapanen replacing Arvidsson among changes to Edmonton lineup
© Getty Images
EDMONTON — Mark Stone will be a game-time decision for the Vegas Golden Knights against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round at Rogers Place on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX).
The forward, who turns 33 on Tuesday, missed the final two periods of a 4-3 win in Game 3 because of an upper-body injury sustained at 7:08 of the first after losing an edge and colliding with the skate of Oilers forward Corey Perry. Stone played three more shifts before leaving with 6:20 remaining.
“He was out there this morning, and we’ll see how he reacts to that,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said following the morning skate.
Stone has eight points (four goals, four assists) in nine playoff games, including four points (two goals, two assists) in three games against the Oilers.
“Obviously he’s our captain and has been with us through a lot of big moments,” Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore said. “It was good to get a win with him watching. It’s not ideal but we grinded through and have the depth to do it. He’s a leader for a reason and it’s good to have him back.”
The Oilers lead the best-of-7 series 2-1. They will be looking to rebound after their six-game winning streak in the Stanley Cup Playoffs ended when Leon Draisaitl deflected the puck into his own net with 0.4 seconds left in the third. Edmonton captain Connor McDavid tied the game 3-3 when his centering pass bounced in off the skate of Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb at 16:58.
“We have no other choice,” McDavid said. “We lost, it happened, we move on. It’s a big one tonight.”
Goalie Stuart Skinner will make his second consecutive start for the Oilers in place of Calvin Pickard, who is out because of a lower-body injury sustained during a 5-4 overtime win in Game 2.
Game 5 will be at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Wednesday
“We’re in a great spot and that’s our focus tonight, is getting this one at home,” Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “It’s a ton of fun always to play in front of this crowd. They’re going to get us amped up and fired up to get going tonight.”
Here is a breakdown of Game 4:
Golden Knights: Vegas will be looking to take the home crowd out of the game by scoring first, even though it has not led to success for either team so far in the series. The Golden Knights had a 2-0 lead in Game 1 and lost 4-2, scored the opening goal in Game 2 and fell behind 2-0 in Game 3 before coming back to win. If Stone plays, it’s expected to provide a boost. McNabb also is expected to be in the lineup despite not taking part in the morning skate. He sustained an upper-body injury during overtime of Game 2 but returned to play Game 3. Forward Brandon Saad remains out because of an undisclosed injury. The Golden Knights are 3-1 on the road in the playoffs.
Oilers: Edmonton will make changes to the lineup for the first time since Game 2 of the Western Conference First Round against the Los Angeles Kings. Forward Kasperi Kapanen is expected to replace Viktor Arvidsson and Troy Stecher will enter on defense, likely for Ty Emberson. Kapanen would make his Oilers playoff debut. Stecher has not played since a 4-1 win at the Winnipeg Jets on April 13. He missed the last two games of the regular season because of an undisclosed injury and has not played the first nine playoff games.
Number to know: 59. The number of Stanley Cup Playoff goals for Perry. His two goals in Game 3 moved him into a tie with Paul Coffey and Stan Mikita for 36th in NHL history. Perry passed Brad Marchand for the fourth most among active players behind Alex Ovechkin (76), Sidney Crosby (71) and Evgeni Malkin (67).
What to look for: What impact will Stone have if he returns? It is uncertain whether he is 100 percent or will have lingering effects from the injury. Can Skinner earn his first win of the 2025 playoffs? He is 0-3 with a 5.36 goals-against average and .817 save percentage after winning 14 postseason games last season.
“He’s a gamer and he gets better as the game goes on. You can’t fault him for any of the goals; they’re good shots. We have to be better in front of him early, but he got better in the Minnesota [Wild] series progressively, as the team did, and to me, they’re intertwined. That’s how we’ve always had success. When we play well in front of him, he’ll be better.” — Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy on goalie Adin Hill
“I feel like they’ve made some adjustments that have been good. I feel like their [defensemen] are really standing up in the neutral zone and not allowing us to gain entry. They have big D-men that break the puck out well and we’ve had a tough time sustaining some [offensive] zone time. I thought last game was a little bit better with some of the looks that we had and it’s something to build on.” — Oilers captain Connor McDavid
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Mark Stone
Victor Olofsson — Tomas Hertl — Pavel Dorofeyev
Brett Howden — William Karlsson — Reilly Smith
Tanner Pearson — Nicolas Roy — Keegan Kolesar
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin — Alex Pietrangelo
Nicolas Hague — Zach Whitecloud
Adin Hill
Akira Schmid
Scratched: Alexander Holtz, Ben Hutton, Kaedan Korczak, Ilya Samsonov, Cole Schwindt
Injured: Brandon Saad (undisclosed)
Zach Hyman — Connor McDavid — Corey Perry
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Leon Draisaitl — Mattias Janmark
Evander Kane — Adam Henrique — Connor Brown
Vasily Podkolzin — Trent Frederic — Kasperi Kapanen
Darnell Nurse — Evan Bouchard
Jake Walman — John Klingberg
Brett Kulak — Troy Stecher
Stuart Skinner
Olivier Rodrigue
Scratched: Viktor Arvidsson, Joshua Brown, Cam Dineen, Ty Emberson, Max Jones, Derek Ryan, Jeff Skinner
Injured: Mattias Ekholm (undisclosed), Calvin Pickard (lower body)
Status report
Draisaitl moves back to center after playing wing with McDavid. Hyman will replace him on McDavid’s line, with Kane sliding to the third line.
