Why Dallas Stars fans are booing Golden Knights captain Mark Stone this postseason

During the first intermission of Game 1 between the Stars and Golden Knights, the American Airlines Center crowd noticed a spotlight shine on Vegas forward Mark Stone.

Stone was in the middle of an on-ice interview with ESPN, and the crowd began to boo the Golden Knights’ captain until he wrapped the interview and went down the tunnel to the locker room.

Stone also scored the game’s first goal — just 83 seconds into the contest on a power play. Every time No. 61 touched the ice, the Dallas crowd let him hear it.

It’s not abnormal for the AAC crowd to target a player with boos. They did the same to Lightning defenseman Matt Dumba each time he touched the puck in the American Airlines Center this season after delivering a hit that injured Joe Pavelski last playoffs as a member of the Minnesota Wild.

But the level that Stone heard it even caught his attention.

“I guess they don’t like me,” he said postgame.

A few recent events factor into the crowd’s feelings toward Stone.

First, Monday was his first game back since Feb. 20 after the captain was placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) due to a lacerated spleen. It raised eyebrows because the Golden Knights were able to take advantage of his $9.5 million cap hit at the trade deadline — making major additions like defenseman Noah Hanifin and forward Tomas Hertl.

When placing a player on LTIR, a team is able to exceed the cap limit by said player’s cap hit. However, the salary cap no longer exists in the postseason, and Vegas is known for circumventing the cap that way by waiting until the first day of the postseason to bring its players back to the active roster. Vegas was about $750,000 over the cap Monday with just the 20 players it dressed. That doesn’t include its seven healthy scratches.

Stone was cleared to skate without contact on April 12 and returned back just in time for Game 1 of the playoffs in a full capacity. He recorded the second-most ice time of any Vegas forward (17:09) on Monday night.

This was the second year in a row that Stone returned just in time for a playoff opener after having back surgery and missing the last 39 games of the 2022-23 season.

He was Vegas’ leader in points with 53 (16 goals, 37 assists) up until his spleen injury this year.

On top of the LTIR situation, Stone was also involved in the play that altered the Vegas-Dallas series last year. Less than two minutes into Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, Jamie Benn was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for a cross check against Stone. He was ultimately suspended two games for the play.

All those factors prompted the unfavorable response from the AAC crowd toward Stone Monday.

However, Stone wasn’t the only Golden Knights player to make a sudden return for Game 1. William Carrier ($1.4 million cap hit) also came back after missing a month on LTIR. Forwards Anthony Mantha and Chandler Stephenson were also both cleared after missing the last two games of the regular season.

As much as the American Airlines Center crowd may not like to hear it, the reality is Stone will be a key weapon for Vegas this series, and his return helped jumpstart their win creating the early lead.

“They’re a totally different team,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Look at the names you’re adding. It would be similar to Roope Hintz and Miro Heiskanen being out for us and then you’re adding them back in. It changes all parts of your game.”

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