Golden Knights captain remains ‘day-to-day’

LAS VEGAS – Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury that kept him out of Friday’s 4-3 loss to the Seattle Kraken.

“Nothing new, didn’t practice,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I keep calling him day-to-day until I hear from the training staff.”

Stone is unlikely to play in Monday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. He is second on the team in points, scoring 21 (six goals and 15 assists).

Here are some other notes from practice:

Golden Knights’ Eichel misses practice

Forward Jack Eichel did not practice with the team. Cassidy said it was a maintenance day for the team’s leading scorer. Keegan Kolesar skated with Nicolas Roy and Ivan Barbashev in Eichel’s place.

Samsonov gearing up

Goalie Ilya Samsonov practiced fully again after missing the last three outings with an injury. Akira Schmid also practiced with the team, but it looks like Samsonov will be making a return sooner than later.

Rush defense improving

The Golden Knights spent time during their practice focusing on rush defense. It’s an area Cassidy called out numerous times as one of the team’s weaknesses early in the season.

The coach said that he’s seeing improvements in that area.

Addressing the Second Period

Vegas outscored opponents 47-23 in the first and third periods. The issue has been the second period, where the Golden Knights are being outscored 18-13.

As for what is causing that discrepancy, Cassidy said that the game flow that is dictating that early season issue.

“We’ve had so many early leads that the other team’s going to kick it into gear,” Cassidy said. “It’s the NHL, right? They’re going to get better. And I don’t even think it’s us being complacent. … It’s more the other team upping on their level than us falling asleep or us just losing focus.”

Paul Delos Santos is the Las Vegas sports insider for Dice City Sports. Follow him on X at @PaulDelos_.