RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) \u2014 William Karlsson left the ice, and the Vegas Golden Knights\u2019 night went south. He may not be back to help them recover.<\/p>\n
With Karlsson knocked out of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final<\/a> because of injury, the Golden Knights took four penalties that turned into two power-play goals against. Carter Hart allowed four goals for a fifth consecutive game in the series, and now his team is on the brink of elimination after losing 4-2 to Carolina on Thursday night.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we lose Bill, it kind of screws things up,\u201d coach John Tortorella said. \u201cWe lost momentum when we went back to back in penalties. It was about the same time that we lost Bill. We\u2019ve got to find a way.\u201d<\/p>\n Karlsson appeared to injure his left arm or shoulder after getting knocked into the boards by Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker a little over eight minutes into the second period. He got medical attention on the bench briefly, skated off and never returned and Tortorella foreshadowed that being the end of Karlsson\u2019s series.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not going to be with us, probably,\u201d Tortorella said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to find a way to fill that void, not with just one guy but as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n Karlsson making his playoff debut<\/a> at the start of the second round changed everything for Vegas, shifting Mitch Marner<\/a> to the wing and providing the kind of strong, reliable center depth needed to win this time of year. Karlsson had nine points in 14 games after missing the previous six months because of an undisclosed injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the void left by Karlsson\u2019s departure was all too clear, especially on the penalty kill. Carolina\u2019s Andrei Svechnikov scored the first of his two power-play goals less than four minutes after Karlsson left, then added another in the third. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s an important piece to us: up the middle of the ice, a penalty killer, power play guy,\u201d Tortorella said. \u201cHe\u2019s a winner.\u201d<\/p>\n Fourth-liner Nick Dowd called Karlsson one of the team\u2019s best players. Defenseman Brayden McNabb, who along with Karlsson and Shea Theodore are the only players who have been around for Vegas\u2019 entire nine-year existence<\/a>, said Karlsson was a big leader in the locker room.<\/p>\n Karlsson is also nearly impossible to replace.<\/p>\n \u201cHe means so much,\u201d fellow center Jack Eichel said. \u201cHe\u2019s a world class player. He plays in all situations. He\u2019s extremely reliable in our own zone, and he creates a lot of offense. … It\u2019s tough. You lose someone like Karl who\u2019s so valuable to our team and playing so well. But it just means everyone else has to step up.\u201d<\/p>\n Tortorella expects that to happen, promising there will be a Game 7 in Raleigh on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll be back here. We\u2019re just going to do it in a different order,\u201d Tortorella said. \u201cI\u2019m going to leave my clothes here, that\u2019s for sure. They\u2019ll be in the hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n To do that, they\u2019ll have to win Game 6 back home in Las Vegas on Sunday. Hart is expected to be in net again despite a save percentage of .856 in the final.<\/p>\n Asked if he considered going to backup Adin Hill \u2014 who backstopped Vegas to the Cup in 2023 \u2014 in the third period, Tortorella scoffed and said, \u201cThat could be the stupidest question I\u2019ve heard.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP NHL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/stanley-cup<\/a> and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nhl<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) \u2014 William Karlsson left the ice, and the Vegas Golden Knights\u2019 night went south. 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