Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb was taken to the hospital after being bloodied by a 87 MPH slap shot during Game 2 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Finals.
McNabb, 35, immediately collapsed to the ice after taking the shot from Carolina Hurricanes winger Nikolaj Ehlers directly to the face while defending the net in front of Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart. The shot appeared to hit McNabb below his visor, which then made contact with his face.
After a brief moment, McNabb skated off the ice while holding his face, which was gushing blood. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported during the game that he had been taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella did not have an update about McNabb’s condition after the game, which saw the Hurricanes tie the best-of-seven series at one game a piece with a 4-3 win in overtime.
Dr. Harjas Grewal, a prominent sports physician, suggested that McNabb may have suffered a facial fracture.
Even if McNabb is required to have surgery, Grewal said there’s still a chance the Golden Knights star may return to the series, referencing former Boston Bruins star Zdeno Chara, who had surgery after fracturing his jaw after taking a puck to the face during the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals and didn’t miss any action.
“It’s terrifying,” Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner said after the game. “I’m going to try to check on him after [this], and hopefully he’s all good. He’s a warrior. He’s done so many great things for us. It’s a big miss whenever he’s out of the lineup, for sure.”
Golden Knights forward Brett Howden added, “It’s a scary play. You never want to see that. Just hope he’s doing all right. We haven’t seen him yet but hope he’s doing OK.”
Vegas captain Mark Stone gave credit to teammate Jeremy Lauzon, who moved up to the Golden Knights’ top defensive pair alongside Shea Theodore in McNabb’s absence.
“You lose a guy like Nabber who logs heavy minutes, such a good teammate, plays the game so hard, it’s tough,” Stone, 34, said after the game. “They battled as hard as they could.”
Marner, 29, echoed the sentiment of his captain.
“Our five D did a great job tonight,” he said. “I thought they were moving the puck well, had some extended shifts where they couldn’t get off and they just battled through.”
The 2026 Stanley Cup Finals shift to Las Vegas for Game 3 on Saturday, June 6.
