What happened to Brayden McNabb in Game 2?

McNabb exits after taking a puck to the face

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb left Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final after being hit in the face by a puck traveling at high speed.

The incident occurred during the first period, and McNabb was immediately assessed on the ice by the team’s medical staff. He did not return to the game after exiting.

Injury impact on the series

McNabb’s departure matters because he’s part of Vegas’s defensive rotation at a time when the Golden Knights were already dealing with the consequences of Carolina’s late surge. Even without detailed specifics on the injury severity in the available summaries, the fact that he was taken for hospital observation/assessment underscores the seriousness of the shot.

Carolina’s comeback storyline in Game 2 includes multiple late-game momentum shifts; losing a key defender during that stretch adds to the compounding factors Vegas had to manage. For Carolina, it reinforces that Vegas’s lineup wasn’t fully stable late in the game.

What to watch next

With McNabb sidelined, Vegas will need to adjust defensive pairings and workload distribution. The next game’s lineup will be closely watched for any sign of his availability or the extent of any concussion/face-injury protocols, since those can extend beyond a single contest.