NHL teams frequently find themselves trying to fill postseason holes with young, unproven players in the salary cap era. The fact that the Vegas Golden Knights have a three-time Stanley Cup winner in Nicolas Hague’s place to handle his minor lower-body injury is a blessing.
Martinez, a mainstay on the Stanley Cup squad from the previous season, contributed 15:30 to Vegas’ 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game 2. Zach Whitecloud was teamed with him. Before winning a Cup with the Golden Knights in his final season, Martinez won two with the Los Angeles Kings.
“Losing Haguer was unfortunate,” Vegas goalie Logan Thompson said. “(But) we just plug (Martinez) back in. It just shows we know how to win. We’ve done it all year. We did it last year. It’s just the experience of the group coming through. Just shutting them down, keeping to the outside, making my life a lot easier.”
The Golden Knights aren’t providing any information about how long they expect Hague to be sidelined.
Eichel Distinction
Jack Eichel‘s two points in Game 2 made him the became the fastest U.S.-born player in NHL history to reach 30 career playoff points.
Brian Leetch and Kevin Stevens previously held the league record of reaching 30 points in their 26th postseason contest.
Others who reached 30 in under 30 games: Joe Mullen (28), plus Adam Fox (29) and Patrick Kane (29).
Ice Chips
The Vegas Golden Knights are 4-0 in franchise history when it comes to winning series after claiming a 2-0 lead in that series… Dallas forwards Mason Marchment and Radek Faksa were injured in the third period of Game 2. The Stars had no updates after the game.