RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — William Karlsson left the ice, and the Vegas Golden Knights' night went south.
With Karlsson knocked out of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final 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.
Karlsson making his playoff debut at the start of the second round changed everything for Vegas, shifting Mitch Marner 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.
This time, it appeared to be 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. Karlsson got medical attention on the bench briefly, skated off and never returned.
Coach John Tortorella has been unwilling to provide injury updates.
But the void left by Karlsson's departure was all too clear, especially on the penalty kill. Carolina's Andrei Svechnikov scored the first of his two power play goals less than four minutes after Karlsson left, then added another in the third.
Hart was screened by Jeremy Lauzon on Svechnikov's first goal, and he was hardly to blame for the loss. But Vegas still lost for the 32nd time in 39 times this season and playoffs when allowing four or more.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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