The goaltending situation has gone from bad to worse for the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Vegas Golden Knights goaltending situation is a bit of a strange one. First off, Marc-Andre Fleury played unbelievable for the NHL’s newest franchise. He earned the second star of the week honors during the NHL’s opening week of the 2017-18 regular season. He recorded a 2-0-0 record with a GAA of 0.98, and a .973 save percentage during that stretch. The three-time Stanley Cup champion got injured against the Detroit Red Wings has been out with a concussion.
Backup goalie Malcolm Subban entered in relief of Fleury and impressed mightily. In three games played, he went 2-0-0 with a 2.06 GAA and a save percentage of .936. Late in the third period versus the St Louis Blues, Subban overextended for a save and likely injured his groin. His timetable for recovery is approximately four weeks.
Golden Knights third-string goaltender Oscar Dansk has done everything that Head Coach Gerard Gallant has asked for and more. The 23-year-old netminder posted a 2-0-0 record with a 1.00 GAA, and a save percentage of .968 for the week ending October 26th. And just like Fleury, he also earned the NHL second star of the week honors. Everything seemed to be going so well until Monday night came around.
During the New York Islanders power play in the second period, Dansk lost his balance and fell awkwardly on the ice. He made the save to stop play, but from that point, I knew there was something wrong as he was grimacing on the ice. Next faceoff Islanders win the draw and score on an injured Dansk.
The Golden Knights then replaced Dansk with fourth-string goaltender Maxime Lagace. And let’s just say Lagace looked like a fourth-string goaltender. Let’s take the loss out of the talk for a minute and look at his performance. He did give up four goals, but two were via the breakaway, one was on a power play, and one was one of the best shots I’ve ever seen Cal Clutterbuck take.
But let’s be real, this is not an ideal situation for the Golden Knights. Lagace will likely get the start tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers. Yikes, tons of pressure for the Saint-Augustin native.
Lagace struggled in both minor league systems just like Dansk did. Dansk always had the higher ceiling, and Lagace was also never a top prospect. Last season with the Texas Stars, Lagace finished the year 11-12-2 with a GAA of 3.56, and a save percentage of .883. During his short stay with the Chicago Wolves this year, he didn’t do too much better going 2-2-0 with a GAA of 3.24, and a save percentage of .888.
The only other goaltender that’s under contract for the Vegas Golden Knights is 19-year-old Dylan Ferguson. If the general manager George McPhee doesn’t acquire another goaltender before tomorrow nights game, he’ll have no choice but to give Ferguson a call. He is currently with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League and has not fared well thus far this season. In 13 games played he’s 4-9-0 with a GAA of 4.05, and a save percentage of .878.
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All in all, this is not good for the Vegas Golden Knights as they just started a six-game road trip. I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life. If Dansk is out an extended period, it’s the Lagace show full time until an injured goaltender comes back. But let’s face it, the Golden Knights just want to see “The Flower” back in net once and for all.
And hopefully, that timetable isn’t too long because he did travel with the team which is always an encouraging sign. Help is on the way Golden Knights fans, but how much longer of this can the team take without imploding? Out of all great moves George McPhee has made, he must absolutely regret doing that Calvin Pickard trade right about now.