Mark Stone was back on the ice Sunday for Game 3 of the Western Conference final at T-Mobile Arena, and so was Cale Makar, giving Vegas and Colorado a pair of key reinforcements in a series that had already swung hard toward the Golden Knights.
Stone had missed the last five games after leaving Game 3 of Vegas’ second-round series against the Anaheim Ducks with an apparent lower-body injury. Colorado had been without Makar since he aggravated an apparent upper-body injury in Game 5 of its second-round series against the Minnesota Wild. The Golden Knights entered Sunday with a 2-0 lead after winning the first two games in Denver.
For Vegas, getting Stone back was a major boost. Noah Hanifin said it was huge to have him return and said Stone’s talent speaks for itself. He added that having Stone back in the room and hearing his voice again would be huge for the team, and said it felt like Stone never missed a beat whenever he came back into the lineup.
Stone, one of Vegas’ most important players at both ends of the ice, had three goals and four assists in nine playoff games before returning. He was likely to slot in next to Jack Eichel on the top line, though he could also be used lower in the lineup after missing time.
Colorado’s situation with Makar looked different on the surface but carried its own weight. The two-time Norris Trophy winner posted 20 goals and 59 assists in 75 games during the regular season and had four goals and one assist in nine playoff games before he returned. Without him, the Avalanche struggled in all three zones against Vegas and managed just one goal on seven power-play chances in the first two games of the series.
On Saturday, Jared Bednar said Makar’s return would be his decision alone. He said the defenseman had been dealing with an injury, had been working in the gym to strengthen it and testing it on the ice, and added that Makar was the only person who knew when he was ready. Bednar also said the team knew what the injury was, knew what Makar was dealing with and expected him back at some point.
That made Sunday different for both clubs. Vegas got back the captain whose absence it had absorbed with a 4-1 record, and Colorado got the league’s most dynamic defenseman back in a series where every shift had started to look like a referendum on depth. The Golden Knights already had the edge on the scoreboard. With Stone and Makar both available again, Game 3 was no longer just about momentum — it was about whether Colorado could make the series competitive before Vegas turned its lead into something harder to chase.
