A key player will officially return for Game 3 between Vegas and Colorado
Mark Stone is back. John Tortorella confirmed Sunday that the Vegas Knights captain returns tonight for Game 3 of the Western Conference Final against Colorado.
Elliotte Friedman dropped the news at 6:09 PM, fresh off the plane in Montreal. About thirty minutes earlier, Tortorella had told reporters in Las Vegas it's a go.
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Stone has been listed day-to-day with an undisclosed issue. He hasn't dressed for the last five Vegas playoff games. Tonight changes that.
The timing matters. Vegas leads the series 2-0 after stealing both games on the road in Denver, winning 4-2 and 3-1.
Stone played the first nine games of this Knights playoff run and posted 7 points in that stretch, including 3 goals on the power play.
His regular season ended at 73 points in 60 games with a plus-26 rating. He averaged better than a point per game when healthy.
Vegas adds its captain back to a power play that needs him
That power play is the obvious spot. Stone's nine power play goals during the regular season led the Knights, and his stick around the crease is the reason Vegas converts in tight.
Tortorella now has a healthy top six again. Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner have carried the load with 18 and 19 playoff points respectively, but the third piece was always Stone.
Vegas enters Sunday night on a three-game winning streak. The Knights also went 7-0-3 over their final 10 regular season games. Momentum is not the problem here.
Colorado is. The Avalanche have lost two straight at home and now walk into a building where Stone gets a captain's welcome.
The question for Tortorella is deployment. Does he ease Stone in on the second line, or trust him on the top unit with Eichel right away?
Asking a 34-year-old to step back into a Conference Final after missing five games is like handing someone the keys to a Ferrari they haven't driven since spring. The car still works. The driver needs a lap.
Stone's playoff plus-minus sits at -1 over his nine appearances. Small sample, but a number Vegas would like to flip starting tonight.
If he can give the Knights even 15 quality minutes, this series tilts further. If he can't, Colorado finally has an opening to climb back in.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 23, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Josh Anderson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Phillip Danault | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mark Jankowski | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Eric Robinson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kaiden Guhle | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | - | - | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Jackson Blake | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Cole Caufield | - | - | - | |
| Kirby Dach | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | - | - | |
| Jakub Dobes | - | - | - | |
| Noah Dobson | - | - | - | |
| Jake Evans | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||