As the Vegas Golden Knights took on the Dallas Stars in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, they had a familiar face in Mark Stone in the lineup as he returned to the team from an injury. While they were excited to have him back, many of the opposition did not share that same enthusiasm and heavily booed him.
A major reason for this booing as been his stunning comeback to the team. In March 2024, Mark Stone was said to have suffered a lacerated spleen and was placed on the Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) list. This casted doubts on whether he could be able to return again this season.
However, the Vegas Golden Knights captain was able to come back just in time for the first game of the playoffs. This lead to many questioning his injury and slammed him brutally on social media.
He would later mark his return with a goal inside two minutes. He would tip a shot from Noah Hanifin to open the scoring and give the perfect start to the team. This probably made the Stars fan more furious than they were before.
They would let their voices be heard as Stone took part in an interview between the periods. While speaking with Leah Hextall of ESPN, the 31-year-old was unable to hear her questions as the fans rained down the boos.
After the game, Stone was asked about the reception from the home crowd. The forward would shrug off the question and claimed, “I don’t know…I guess they don’t like me“.
Jonathan Marchessault praises the performance of Mark Stone on return amidst intense boos from crowd
During Game 1 of the Golden Knights-Stars series, Mark Stone unwittingly became the villain for the fans. His every move was heavily booed by the supporters present at the American Airlines Center. Despite this constant booing, he delivered a great performance which lead to his teammate Jonathan Marchessault praising him.
During the press conference after the game, Marchessault claimed he “loved” the performance of his teammate and praised him. The forward went on to talk about the leadership skills of his captain and was happy to have him on his side as the team aims to launch a successful defense of the title.
I loved it. I mean, (I couldn’t) be more happy for any guy than him. He’s been going through a lot of adversity in the past two years, and the fact that he comes back and gets big goals like that, I mean, it’s unbelievable to have a guy like that on your team and especially as your leader, so we’re happy to have him on our side. Jonathan Marchessault said via ESPN.
The Golden Knights will now look to strengthen their hold in this series with a victory in Game 2. The Dallas Stars on the other hand will be hoping for a strong bounce back in front of their fans before traveling to Vegas for Game 3 and 4.
More must-reads: