- Vegas defenseman Jeremy Lauzon out indefinitely after taking a Pavel Dorofeyev shot to the side of the head in Game 6
- Head coach John Tortorella confirmed the injury, with Lauzon expected to miss the rest of the second-round series against Anaheim
- Read below for what it means for the Knights as Round 2 begins
The Golden Knights are heading into Round 2 without one of their toughest defenders.
Vegas head coach John Tortorella confirmed Monday that Jeremy Lauzon will be out of the lineup against the Anaheim Ducks after taking a wrist shot from teammate Pavel Dorofeyev to the side of the head in the third period of Friday’s series-clinching win over Utah.
Lauzon left the ice under his own power but did not return. Tortorella declined to give a timeline, though the 28-year-old is expected to miss the rest of the series.
Here’s the official NHL recap of the Game 6 win where the injury happened:
Losing Lauzon hurts more than the box score suggests. He averaged 16:33 a night through the six-game first round but jumped to 19 and 20 minutes in Vegas’s overtime wins in Games 4 and 5, eating tough matchups when Tortorella needed someone to slow Utah’s forecheck.
His regular season numbers tell the same story. Lauzon racked up 251 hits and 89 penalty minutes in 68 games, second only to his 386-hit campaign with Nashville in 2023-24. He’s not there to score. He’s there to hurt people, block shots, and make life miserable in front of the net.
Sin Bin Vegas had more on the Round 2 picture, including injury updates and lineup notes:
The good news for Vegas is the rest of the room is starting to fill back up. William Karlsson returned for Game 1 against Anaheim after six months on the shelf, giving Tortorella a real center group again as the Knights chase a deeper run.
Tortorella took over the bench in late March after Vegas fired Bruce Cassidy with eight games left, and his blueprint has always leaned on physical, defensive hockey. Losing one of the guys best built for it isn’t great timing.
Vegas opens the second-round matchup with the Ducks tonight in Las Vegas:
Look for someone like Kaedan Korczak or Brayden Pachal to slot in on the third pairing while Lauzon is sidelined. Whether he gets back at all this series will likely depend on how the head clears in the next few days.
