The Vegas Golden Knights got a lot to feel good about on Sunday. Jack Eichel kept pushing his chase for 100 or more points and capped the night with a game-winning goal in the second period against the Buffalo Sabres. The road trip was a strong one, too, with the Golden Knights collecting seven of a possible eight points.
Then came the hit that changed the mood. Defenseman Noah Hanifin left the game in the third period after a nasty injury and headed down the tunnel. Fans are now waiting on an update for the Olympic gold medalist.
Per the broadcast, Noah Hanifin went down the tunnel after this hit. Not on the bench. pic.twitter.com/jWWGnoycdy
- Danny Webster (@DannyWebster21) November 8, 2026
Hanifin has been a steady part of the blue line this season, putting up two goals and four assists in 19 games while adding 1.2 total point shares and 35 blocked shots. That matters even more now because Vegas is already dealing with another injury on defense, with Parker Wotherspoon out with an upper-body injury after a broken finger.
If Hanifin misses time, the impact goes well beyond simply losing another body on the back end. He’s been one of the more useful defensemen in the mix, and the Golden Knights would feel that absence in more than one area.
At 6-foot-3 and 206 pounds, the Boston native is hard to miss, and his size helps explain why he’s so effective at getting in shooting lanes and blocking pucks. But the bigger difference this season has come in the offensive zone. His goals above expected, via MoneyPuck, sits at 0.4 this year, a step up from last season’s -3.4 in that category.
That doesn’t make him a pure scorer, but it does show he’s doing more when he gets involved up ice. Hanifin’s value comes from more than just shot blocking and puck disruption. He also helps create chances and isn’t shy about shooting when he gets space in the offensive zone.
The pairing numbers show why his absence would sting. Hanifin is part of the Golden Knights’ second-best pairing this season, one that has posted a 60.2% xGoals%. That’s tied to how well the duo has handled the defensive side of the game, and it shows up in the results too: the pairing has the third-best xGoals against on the team at 3.5, with a minimum of 50 minutes.
The Hanifin-Lauzon pairing has given Vegas a layer of protection in front of the goaltenders and helped limit high-danger looks. Take Hanifin out of that mix, and the ripple effect could hit both ends of the ice. The goaltenders would lose that extra cushion, and the team’s puck-moving from the back end could take a hit as well.
With the blue line already thin, losing Hanifin would be a real problem for the Golden Knights.
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