Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) celebrates after the Knights beat the Bruins in overtime of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenschmidttt
Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) watches the puck in a face-off with the Kings during the first period of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenschmidttt
Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) looks to pass while skating against Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson (8) during the third period of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenschmidttt
Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone walks onto the ice for warmups before an NHL hockey game against the Bruins at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenschmidttt
Golden Knights left wing Pavel Dorofeyev (16), right wing Mark Stone (61) and center Chandler Stephenson (20) celebrate Stephenson’s goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Flames at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenschmidttt
Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) winds up to shoot against the Flames during the first period of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenschmidttt
Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) and Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Rickard Rakell (67) race after the puck during a game at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) chats with goaltender Adin Hill (33) after an icing call against the Edmonton Oilers during the second period of their NHL game at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow)
Golden Knights captain Mark Stone will miss at least the rest of the regular season with a lacerated spleen, general manager Kelly McCrimmon said Friday.
Stone hasn’t played since Feb. 20, when he left the Knights’ game against the Nashville Predators with what the team called an upper-body injury.
“I’m sure every single person in this room has googled lacerated spleen, and you can tell it’s a little bit of a tough one to pinpoint in terms of circling a date on the calendar,” McCrimmon said during a news conference.
McCrimmon said Stone did not have the organ removed.
“It’s really an unknown for us,” McCrimmon said about Stone’s timetable. “These are different type of injuries than what hockey players or athletes normally sustain. This is all about CT scans that determine the health of the spleen. It’s impossible to know what the timeline is.”
Stone, 31, had 53 points in 56 games before getting hurt. He also has battled back issues the past two seasons, missing 39 games last season and 45 in 2021-22.
“We wish Mark a healthy recovery, and there’s no reason to expect that he won’t have a healthy recovery,” McCrimmon said. “I don’t think this puts him at risk in any way longer term, but it is going to take the time that it is going to take.”
