It was less than two months ago that Mark Stoneâs name was in hockey news for his contract status and future in Ottawa, eventually being traded to Vegas and joining a host of others with Wheat King connections with the Golden Knights.
Last night in his Vegas home ice playoff debut the former BWK star showed why the Golden Knights payed the price they did to trade for and sign him, leading his new team to a key 6-3 win with a five point night including three goals. The hat trick was the first in franchise playoff history. When combined with three goals in the first two games of the series, Stone is the early playoff goal scoring leader with six and is tied with linemate Paul Stastny for tops in points at nine.
For the curious, the record for points in a playoff game is eight. Five point nights are quite uncommon in the playoffs themselves, happening on 13 occasions before tonight since the turn of the millennium (Stastny also had five in the same game).
A total of eight former Wheat Kings are participating in this yearâs playoffs:
The Knights, who also feature former BWK Ryan Reaves, now have a 2-1 lead in their best of seven series against the San Jose Sharks. The winner of that series would move on to play the winner of Travis Hamonicâs Calgary Flames and Matt Calvertâs Colorado Avalanche.