Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner (90) makes a save during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Friday, Feb. 28, 2020.
Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020 | 2 a.m.
Robin Lehner has seen a little bit of everything in his NHL career.
The Golden Knights are the goalie’s fourth team and third in the last two years. He’s played behind great defenses, poor defenses and average defenses. He’s been on bad teams, fine teams, good teams and potentially great teams.
The one thing he’s consistently been is stable in the net, even if his career trajectory would suggest otherwise. He shut out the Vancouver Canucks in Game 1 two nights ago and is the projected starter for Game 2 of the second-round series at 6:45 p.m. tonight.
“He stops a lot of pucks and when he does that, teams feel pretty safe around him,” Vegas forward William Karlsson said. “He has that aura around the crease.”
Since his rookie year of 2012-13, Lehner has never posted a save percentage below .905 in eight seasons, and has five times reached .920 or better. Last season was the finest of his career when he had a .930 save percentage and was named a Vezina Trophy finalist as the league’s top netminder with the New York Islanders.
The Golden Knights knew what they were getting when they acquired him in February and are reaping those fruits: a 6-1 record this postseason, a .918 save percentage and his first career postseason shutout in the Game 1 victory against the Canucks. He’s taken the net and hasn’t let go of it, and looks like he’s ended any debate as to who is Vegas’ starting goalie.
“It’s not just this postseason,” coach Peter DeBoer said. “Look back at this guy’s numbers from the past two years.”
What DeBoer is most impressed with is not just that Lehner has been one of the league’s top goalies over the past two years, but how he’s done it playing on three teams with three styles of play.
Lehner broke out last season with the Islanders, a defensive bastion that play the kind of style that makes life easy for goalies. The Islanders were one of the league’s best teams at suppressing shots and quality chances. Even in that context, Lehner still managed to post tremendous numbers, with 18.9 goals saved above expected, according to Evolving Hockey, a figure that was third in the league.
Then Lehner proved that he was no system goalie when he signed as a free agent with Chicago last summer. The Blackhawks play a more wide-open style of play whose defense was less reliable than New York’s. Lehner still mustered a .918 save percentage to keep Chicago within spitting distance of the playoffs while splitting time with Corey Crawford.
He was traded to Vegas in February, where once again he joined a goalie tandem, and once again was terrific. The Golden Knights’ defense is somewhere between New York’s and Chicago’s, though Vegas does a better job than either of keeping the puck at the other end of the ice. In three regular season games Lehner posted a shutout and allowed just five goals. That play hasn’t slowed down in the playoffs, including winning three of the four games in the first-round series against his old team.
“He’s been a model of consistency in the net in just about every area over a long timeframe, not just the short time he’s been with us,” DeBoer said. “It’s just business as usual for him. He’s been playing at an elite level for awhile now.”
Lehner is a free agent after the Golden Knights’ postseason run comes to a close, and it’s unlikely he remains in Vegas. The Golden Knights have Marc-Andre Fleury signed for more two more seasons with a $7 million cap hit and a modified no-trade clause. With a flat cap next season Vegas won’t have the room to sign both, and a trade of Fleury to clear room for Lehner remains unlikely, even if Fleury’s agent has publicly voiced displeasure in his client’s current situation.
Lehner addressed the controversy with Fleury’s agent after his Game 1 victory, and said he and Fleury laughed it off. He’s been part of goalie tandems and people taking sides, and it doesn’t bother him to see.
“I’m used to this stuff, I’ve got to be honest,” Lehner said. “It’s just part of the game. People have their fan favorites and all that stuff, but at the end of the day we’re winning and I’m blessed to be part of this team.”
Lehner will sign a new contract this offseason probably with a new team. He’s been clear about his desire for long-term security and felt jaded that he didn’t get a multi-year contract after his Vezina-caliber season last year. He’s earned a fat contract and will be among the most coveted goalies in a crowded free-agent class.
It’s not clear where he could go or how long he’ll sign for or how much money he’ll make. It was hard enough to predict how his offseason might go before a pandemic through the hockey world into turmoil, but now it’s nearly impossible to even guess.
One thing is clear, though. No matter where Lehner plays next season he’s going to be good. He’s never been anything but.
Series: Golden Knights lead 1-0
TV: NBC Sports Network (DirecTV 220, Cox 38, CenturyLink 640)
Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM
Betting line: Golden Knights minus-220, Canucks plus-180; over/under: 5.5 (minus-125, plus-105)
Golden Knights (8-1, Western Conference No. 1 seed)
Previous round: Defeated Chicago in first round, 4-1
Coach: Peter DeBoer (first season)
Points leaders: Reilly Smith, Mark Stone (10)
Goals leaders: Mark Stone, Alex Tuch (5)
Assists leaders: Reilly Smith (6)
Expected goalie: Robin Lehner (2.10 GAA, .918 save percentage)
Canucks (7-4, Western Conference No. 7 seed)
Previous round: Defeated St. Louis in first round, 4-2
Coach: Travis Green (third season)
Points leaders: Elias Pettersson (13)
Goals leader: Bo Horvat (6)
Assists leaders: Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson (9)
Expected goalie: Jacob Markstrom (2.70 GAA, .922 save percentage)
Golden Knights projected lineup
Forwards
Max Pacioretty—William Karlsson—Mark Stone
Jonathan Marchessault—Paul Stastny—Reilly Smith
Nick Cousins—Nicolas Roy—Alex Tuch
William Carrier—Chandler Stephenson—Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
Brayden McNabb—Nate Schmidt
Alec Martinez—Shea Theodore
Nick Holden—Zach Whitecloud
Goalies
Robin Lehner, Marc-André Fleury
