Carpenter OK after check along boards by Paquette
Injured wing Carrier rejoins teammates in Detroit
DETROIT — Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant provided a brief update Wednesday on the health of winger Ryan Carpenter, and it was mostly positive.
“Carpenter’s doing real good today,” Gallant said. “He’s probably not going to play tomorrow (against Detroit). We’ll decide later, but he’s a lot better today.”
Carpenter was injured with 2:17 remaining in the second period when he absorbed a heavy check in the corner from Tampa Bay’s Cedric Paquette.
Carpenter appeared to hit the back of his head on the edge of the dasher boards and was down for nearly one minute.
He tried to skate off under his own power but was visibly woozy and eventually had to be helped to the Knights’ dressing room.
Carpenter did not practice Wednesday at BELFOR Training Center.
Television cameras showed Gallant was furious that officials did not call a penalty on the hit. He declined comment on the play Wednesday.
Carrier arrives
Wing William Carrier, who has not played since Jan. 4 due to an undisclosed injury, rejoined the team during the last stop on the road trip and was a full participant in practice.
Carrier remains on injured reserve and is not expected to be activated for the game against the Red Wings.
In 44 games, Carrier has a career-high eight goals and remains the NHL leader in hits with 219.
“He’s real close,” Gallant said. “Will’s had a great year so far. It’s been disrupted by a couple of injuries, but he’s an important player for us, and I’m looking forward to seeing him back.”
Goaltender Malcolm Subban also practiced and is day to day with an undisclosed injury. Maxime Lagace remained with the Knights, though Marc-andre Fleury was given the day off from practice.
Gallant was uncertain whether Subban would be activated from injured reserve Thursday to serve as Fleury’s backup.
“He’s just like Will,” Gallant said. “He’s real close and he’s working hard, so it’s good to see him on the ice the last few days.”
Feeling shame
Defenseman Nate Schmidt was called for his first minor penalty in his 35th game Tuesday. The Lightning scored on the ensuing man advantage to snap the Knights’ streak of 12 straight successful penalty kills, but couldn’t convert on their next four power plays.
The Knights rank third in the league on the penalty kill at 84.1 percent.
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @ Davidschoenlvrj on Twitter.