John Tortorella provides a crucial update after Brayden McNabb's hospitalization

McNabb left Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final after taking an 87 mph Nikolaj Ehlers slapshot directly to the face at 10:52 of the first period.

He was transported to a Raleigh hospital and did not return.

John Tortorella offered no health update Friday morning, saying only that McNabb would travel back to Las Vegas with the team ahead of Saturday's Game 3.

The focus is on whether McNabb plays. The bigger question is what happens to the Theodore-McNabb pairing if he doesn't.

That duo has been the foundation of everything the Golden Knights do defensively this postseason.

Entering Game 2, Vegas was winning the scoring-chance battle 102-83 during their minutes together.

McNabb's physical, shot-blocking style is what allows Theodore to take the offensive risks that have produced eight even-strength points and 46 blocked shots this playoff run.

Without McNabb in Game 2, Theodore logged 28 minutes and 30 seconds of ice time. Jeremy Lauzon, who only returned from an upper-body injury in Game 1, was forced into 21:08.

Vegas held on for 50 minutes before everything collapsed in a 4-3 overtime loss that evened the series.

If McNabb misses Game 3, the expectation per the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Danny Webster is that Lauzon slides up to the top pair with Theodore while Kaedan Korczak draws back into the lineup.

That's a completely different defensive identity against a Carolina Hurricanes team that posted an 82.1 percent first-period shot share in Game 2.

McNabb is one of only three Golden Knights players to appear in all three franchise Stanley Cup Final appearances, alongside Theodore and William Karlsson.

He carried a 298-game consecutive regular-season ironman streak before a January injury.

Replacing his minutes is possible. Replacing what he means to Vegas's defensive structure in a tied Stanley Cup Final is another thing entirely.