Terrifying moment in Utah as players takes a shot right to the face
Friendly fire is the worst kind in playoff hockey, and Jeremy Lauzon learned that the hard way Friday night in Utah.
The Vegas defenseman took a Pavel Dorofeyev wrist shot off the side of his head and headed straight to the room for repairs.
Vegas finished the job anyway.
Bruce Cassidy's group eliminated the Mammoth, closing out the first-round series 4-2 and moving on to Round 2.
Lauzon was screening in front, did his job exactly the way Cassidy asks, and walked into the puck off his own teammate's stick.
That's the part that stings.
The 29-year-old earns $2 million per season to do that work. He posted 1 goal and 12 assists in 68 regular-season games with a -3 rating. His value isn't on the score sheet.
His value is in front of the net, in shot lanes, and on the penalty kill. The closer the help, the more dangerous the screening job becomes when a teammate winds up.
Why Vegas can't lose Lauzon for Round 2
Dorofeyev is a finisher, not a friendly-fire poster boy.
The 25-year-old Russian poured in 37 goals and 64 points in 82 games during the regular season, including 20 power play markers.
His playoff line jumped off the page through 5 games: 4 goals, 4 points, +2. The wrist shot that hit Lauzon was the kind of release Vegas built their offense around all year.
The image hits harder when you slow it down.
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Cassidy now waits to find out the status of his physical right-shot defenseman.
Vegas finished 39-26-17 for 95 points, first in their division. The depth on the back end is real, but losing a heat-seeker for a deep run is a different problem.
Andre Tourigny gets to start the offseason in Utah after his team pushed Vegas to six. The Mammoth made it ugly. They forced two overtimes. They didn't make it easy on the favorite.
But Vegas had Dorofeyev shooting like a top-line winger and Lauzon eating shots like a fourth-line warrior. Sometimes those two roles meet at the worst possible angle.
The next round arrives quickly. Lauzon's name will be on every injury report and every game-day update until Cassidy puts a number next to his status.
That uncertainty is the price of winning a tough Round 1.
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MAY 1, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Tage Thompson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Gage Goncalves | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Josh Norris | 1 | - | 1 | |
| David Pastrnak | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Colton Sissons | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Smith | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kailer Yamamoto | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Doan | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brandon Hagel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noah Hanifin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Dominic James | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kaedan Korczak | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||