Karlsson’s Void Looms Large For Golden Knights In Game 6

Vegas is staring at a familiar kind of playoff problem, the sort that usually gets exposed when the margins get tight and the ice gets smaller. Karlsson’s absence leaves the Golden Knights trying to patch a hole that touches everything from matchup balance to puck possession, and that is never as simple as sliding one extra body into the lineup. In a Stanley Cup Final game, every missing center ripple matters because the other bench is hunting those cracks from the opening faceoff.