Vegas Golden Knights: Takeaways from Game 1 win against Chicago

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Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights deflects a shot by Dominik Kubalik #8 of the Chicago Blackhawks in Game One of the Western Conference First Round. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /

1. Riding the hot hand

It happened. It finally happened.

While Marc-Andre Fleury is the face of this franchise, there were subtle signs throughout the round-robin games that maybe a big change was on the way.

And that’s exactly what happened in Game 1.

Vegas Head Coach Peter DeBoer opted to start Robin Lehner in Game 1, and it could be the sign of things to come.

It shocked many but then maybe it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise given that the Golden Knights broke tradition by acquiring Lehner as a pure rental at the Trade Deadline.

From the Chicago Blackhawks of all old teams.

Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights is congratulated by Ryan Reaves #75 after a win against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game One of the Western Conference First Round. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /

And Lehner came back to haunt his old team in Game 1, stopping 19 of the 20 shots he faced to help Vegas take a 1-0 series lead.

There wasn’t a lot he could do on Chicago’s goal with David Kampf recording a shorthanded goal following a bad turnover by Shea Theodore.

Other than that, though, Lehner came up big when he needed to and he made the saves he did make look easy.

The only real blot on Lehner’s copybook was the fact that his left skate blade popped out twice, which could have made life more difficult.

If he can avoid another wardrobe malfunction then expect another strong showing from Lehner in Game 2 should he get the start.

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