Golden Knights lose player to NHL’s COVID-19 protocols
COVID-19 has crept into the Golden Knights’ season for the second time.
The Knights announced left wing William Carrier entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols Monday after missing the previous two games for non-COVID reasons. He is the second player on the team to enter the protocols this season after left wing Mattias Janmark.
The Knights are fully vaccinated and have had far fewer issues with the virus compared to last year. In their seventh game last season, their entire NHL coaching staff needed to quarantine during a 5-4 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues. The team didn’t play again for 10 days. The Knights also had numerous games rescheduled throughout the season.
This year, Janmark was the team’s first player to enter the protocols the day before the Oct. 12 opener after getting COVID-19. He didn’t skate with the Knights again until Oct. 21 and said weeks later, on Nov. 10, that he was still working on his conditioning.
Carrier, 26, has two goals and two assists in 11 games this season. He missed the first two games of the year because he was in concussion protocol after getting kicked in the head by the skate of Colorado Avalanche defenseman Kurtis MacDermid in a preseason game.
Martinez update
Defenseman Alec Martinez was still being evaluated Monday for what coach Pete DeBoer called a “nasty cut” from the skate of Minnesota left wing Brandon Duhaime.
Martinez was struck by Duhaime’s skate in the face Thursday. He did not play Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks and will not play Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes, DeBoer said. DeBoer added the team was optimistic Martinez’s injury is not “long term.”
“They’ve got to go through the process of making sure that there’s not anything more there,” DeBoer said. “That it is just a cut. And that’s what we’re hopeful of.”
Roy’s rise no surprise
Center Nicolas Roy has been one of the Knights’ most improved players this season, with five points in six games since ascending to first-line center.
It hasn’t surprised the teammates that have played against him in the past. Defenseman Nic Hague and right wing Keegan Kolesar, who lost to Roy and the Charlotte Checkers in the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup Final in 2019, said he was tremendous in the series.
Roy had three goals and an assist in Charlotte’s five-game series victory.
“I remember I wanted to take him out, that’s for sure,” Kolesar said. “He’s playing a huge part right now for our team. I think everyone’s got an elevated role, and he’s really taken off with his.”
Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.
