Mark Stone Played Through a Torn Groin. The Details Are Brutal.

The Vegas Golden Knights’ playoff run ended sooner than they wanted, but the full story of how far Mark Stone pushed himself is only now coming into focus.

Stone revealed that he was dealing with multiple tears in his left adductor muscle, an injury that sidelined him mid-series against the Anaheim Ducks and clearly never fully healed during the postseason. According to Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Stone said he suffered “a couple of tears in his left adductor” during Game 3 against Anaheim, forcing him to miss the remainder of that contest and sit out until Game 3 of the next round against Colorado.

For context, a minor adductor tear typically takes about two weeks to recover from. Multiple tears — especially ones severe enough to pull a player out of a game — can require anywhere from three weeks to several months of healing. Stone returned after roughly two weeks, which means he was almost certainly playing through significant discomfort for the rest of the playoffs.

And yet, he still made an impact. In two games against the Avalanche, Stone scored two goals and added an assist, including the opening goal in Game 4 that helped Vegas sweep Colorado. In the first round against the Utah Mammoth, he put up two goals and two assists across six games. Overall, he contributed two goals in the Stanley Cup Final against Carolina — though both came in losses.

That’s the kind of gritty performance fans have come to expect from Stone, but it also raises a familiar question in hockey: Was it worth the risk? The Golden Knights fell short in six games to the Hurricanes, and while Stone’s presence was clearly valued, the team has not confirmed whether the injury worsened by playing through it.

Now, with a full offseason ahead, Stone has time to actually recover. The 2026-27 season starts fresh, and the hope in Vegas is that a healthy Stone can help them make another deep run — this time without the hidden cost of a torn groin.

This isn’t a story about a superstar crumbling under pressure. It’s about a player who refused to sit out when it mattered most, even when his body was making it painfully clear that he probably should have.