After missing the Vegas Golden Knights’ last seven games due to a lower body injury, defenseman Luca Sbisa has officially been activated from injured reserve, the Golden Knights announced Thursday.
Sbisa has been a pleasant surprise for the Golden Knights through the first quarter of the season. After years of failing to live up to the hype of a former first-round draft selection, Sbisa has managed to play some solid hockey for Vegas. In 16 games, the Swiss blueliner has registered eight points and logged heavy minutes on the Golden Knights’ penalty kill.
With the return of Sbisa, though, the Golden Knights placed forwards David Perron and William Carrier on injured reserve.
Perron has been out of the lineup since taking this dirty hit from Timo Meier of the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 24.
David Perron isn’t on the Vegas bench at the moment. He took this shot from Timo Meier earlier. pic.twitter.com/x8Xqgbhz8n
— Ryan Quigley (@RP_Quigs) November 25, 2017
Losing Perron for the foreseeable future is obviously a major concern. Perron has registered six goals and 19 points in 21 games this season. His absence will certainly impact the Golden Knights’ scoring and their shutout loss to the Dallas Stars Tuesday night may be the first sign of such a regression.
Carrier, while not much of a scorer, has proven himself as an effective checking line winger and has formed a strong chemistry with typical linemates Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Tomas Nosek.
Perron and Carrier have a minimum of seven days before they can return to the Golden Knights’ lineup.