Golden Knights' William Karlsson leaves arena with injury in Game 5

The injury occurred midway through the game when Karlsson skated behind the Hurricanes net to battle for the puck with Sean Walker. Karlsson got to the puck first, and Walker played the body and hit him into the boards. Karlsson immediately looked to be in discomfort, went to the bench.

Karlsson went to the dressing room shortly after the play and did not return to the game. While the Golden Knights have yet to confirm Karlsson won’t return to the game, ESPN insider Emily Kaplan reported on the game broadcast that Karlsson had actually left the arena and gone to a nearby hospital, effectively confirming his departure.

Karlsson leaves the game with a shot on goal in 8:43 of ice time, with the game still tied 1-1 at the time of his departure.

At this point in time, there’s no confirmation as to how severe Karlsson’s injury is, or how long he is expected to be out of the lineup. While one would assume having to go to the hospital would mean the injury is severe, the same happened to Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb in Game 2, and he returned to the series the next game. While more details could be confirmed about his status for the rest of the Stanley Cup Final, especially if it’s a major injury, those details may not be known until after the series is over, considering the nature of injuries during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Karlsson already missed the final 68 games of the regular season, as well as the first six games of the playoffs, but that was due to a lower-body injury. While the type of injury Karlsson sustained in Game 5 is not confirmed, his reaction indicated it might be an upper-body injury.

When Karlsson was healthy, he’s been the usual two-way forward the Golden Knights have come to expect from him for the past nine years. He had four goals and three assists for seven points in 14 regular season games, and has three goals and six assists for nine points in 15 games thus far in the playoffs.

Should Karlsson miss more time, Brandon Saad or Reilly Smith are the only other forwards to draw into the lineup for the Golden Knights in the playoffs, so they will be the likely candidates to take Karlsson’s place.