No one was more anxious this past week than defenseman Brayden McNabb.
He watched helplessly for nearly two full games, not able to help his Vegas Golden Knights teammates punch their ticket to the Western Conference final.
But the Knights overcame being short-handed for Game 5 following McNabb’s ejection for hitting Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Poehling in the first period, then followed with a complete performance in the 5-1 win on Thursday to close out the series.
McNabb was suspended for the first time in his NHL career because of the hit.
“It sucks watching. It sucks being out,” McNabb said on Saturday. “The guys played great. It’s very nervous watching, but the boys played great and finished it off.”
McNabb said he never got any explanation from the officials on the reasoning behind the ejection.
McNabb, 35, hit Poehling late and well after the puck was nowhere near the check.
Brayden McNabb was given a game misconduct for interference on Ryan Poehling.
Poehling left the game with an apparent injury. pic.twitter.com/XQqtfbAARA
— ESPN (@espn) May 13, 2026
While he hit Poehling with his shoulder, it resulted in injury with Poehling’s head hitting the glass and then him lying on the ice for several seconds before trainers came to his aid.
McNabb had a hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.
“Player Safety, they have a job to do,” McNabb said. “You respect whatever they say. I just hope Ryan is OK. I hope he heals up quick. That’s the main thing.”
The players used McNabb’s absence as a rallying cry, of sorts, to band together.
Defenseman Ben Hutton said on the Knights’ radio broadcast that they wanted to win it for McNabb. Winger Brett Howden echoed those same thoughts before Game 6.
“It’s kind of been the theme. It’s that next-man-up mentality,” Howden said. “Obviously we lose a huge piece of our team, but we’ve got a lot of depth. The team we have, we lean on each other in these situations.”
The Knights got off to the best start possible with a 3-0 lead after the first period.
“It was awesome,” McNabb said. “The team itself played unreal for, pretty much, a full 60 minutes. It’s great to see. (I’m) super pumped about the way they performed.”
McNabb was the latest big name to come out of the lineup for that close-out game at Honda Center. The Knights were already without captain Mark Stone (lower body) and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon (upper body).
Both did not practice on Saturday. Coach John Tortorella didn’t have an update on either after practice.
Dylan Coghlan played 19:30 and was a plus-3 in place of McNabb, skating on the top pair with Shea Theodore.
But the Knights will gladly welcome McNabb back to the lineup against the Colorado Avalanche when the Western Conference Final begins Wednesday in Denver.
“They’re a good team. We respect them,” McNabb said. “We’re just trying to get ready for the game. That’s all we can do in general.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
