The Vegas Golden Knights have placed goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion) and forward Jonathan Marchessault (lower body) on injured reserve and will miss at least a week, the team announced Sunday.
In their place, the Golden Knights have called up goaltender Maxime Lagace and forward Alex Tuch from the Chicago Wolves.
Vegas forward Erik Haula was placed on IR on Saturday. He is being replaced in the lineup by Vadim Shipachyov.
Shipachyov, Tuch and Lagace will be in uniform for Sunday’s game against the Boston Bruins.
While Marchessault and Haula are missing time, it is the health of Fleury that fans should be most concerned with. The three-time Stanley Cup champion and face of the franchise goaltender has been diagnosed with a concussion.
Fleury took a knee to the head from Detroit Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha on Friday in the second period.
However, the effects of concussions and their recovery times vary wildly from person to person so this could conceivably put the veteran goalie on the shelf for the foreseeable future.
Now the obvious question must be asked. Why was Fleury allowed to stay in the game? And, beyond even that, where were the concussion spotters on this play? Those people whose sole purpose at NHL games it is to see plays like this one, and then have the player removed from the game were entirely absent. It seems ludicrous that they missed this in hindsight.