By Jordan Long
The Vegas Golden Knights face the Dallas Stars tonight. Vegas is 3 points behind Dallas for the final Wild Card spot. A loss in regulation will end their playoff hopes. They have not missed the postseason since they came into the league in the 2017-2018 season. Vegas will be without goaltender Robin Lehner as he is going to have shoulder surgery which will end his season.
Lehner’s play in net is the reason why Vegas has been in a playoff fight. Lehner is 23-17-2 with a goals against average of 2.83 and a save percentage of .907. Vegas knows every game that Lehner starts he will be able to make the saves and cover the puck up to avoid rebound chances. This keeps the Knights in games.
Lehner tried to battle through a shoulder injury. The Knights thought Lehner gave them the best chance to earn a playoff spot. The Knights even asked him to delay surgery since they have been in the postseason hunt. Now the Knights decided it is best for him to undergo surgery, even though they still have slim playoff hopes. This will give Lehner the opportunity to be healthy for training camp and the beginning of the 2022-2023 regular season.
According to ESPN, the team said in a statement, “Robin has done his best to battle through this injury he sustained February 9, and we were hopeful that rest and rehab would allow him to complete the season. He initially rehabbed and was able to return to play on March 1. At times, rest and rehab were effective, but ultimately Robin, in consultation with team medical staff, determined that this is the best course of action.”
Now that Lehner’s year is over, the Knights will need to play the final 3 games with goaltenders Laurent Brossoit and Logan Thompson. Brossoit’s record this season is 10-9-3 with a goals against average of 2.90 and a save percentage of .895. Thompson appeared in 16 games for the Knights with a record of 9-5-1 with a goals against average of 2.64 and a save percentage of .917. They hope both Brossoit and Thompson give them a chance to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. If they go down tonight and the goaltending isn’t there, they could say the reason is Lehner’s injury.
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