Vegas Golden Knights should ride the hot hand in Game 4

It should be Robin Lehner time in Game 4 for the Vegas Golden Knights.

The 2018-19 Vezina Trophy finalist stopped all 31 shots he faced to record a shutout in Game 3 as the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 to go 2-1 up in the series.

There will be no rest for the wicked, though, with Game 4 slated for today after the NHL had to tweak its schedule in the wake of the league postponing games on Thursday and Friday following the shooting of Jacob Blake by Wisconsin police.

As a result, the general thinking was that Lehner and Marc-Andre Fleury would split the back-to-back, something they did in Round 1 against the Chicago Blackhawks.

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It is the way of life that goaltenders tend to split a back-to-back in the NHL, especially now when it is rare for a goalie to make 60 plus starts a year.

However, it is time for tradition to change.

The Golden Knights should ride the hot hand in Game 4.

Robin Lehner needs to start against the Canucks tonight.

Rebounding from a tough night in the Game 2 loss to Vancouver on Tuesday, Lehner was sensational in Game 3.

He stopped all 31 shots fired at him, including 10 on the power play, to shutout the Canucks for the second time this series.

It was Lehner’s second career postseason shutout, both of which have come this year and in this series which is pretty incredible.

Granted, Lehner had a lot more help from his defense as they blocked a grand total of 22 shots while playing solid defense, something they didn’t do in Game 2.

But Lehner was big when he needed to be and there was no finer example of that then in the first period.

With the Canucks brimming with confidence following their 5-2 win in Game 2, they launched an onslaught on the Vegas goal in the first period.

They rained down pucks on Lehner but he stood tall, stopping 16 shots in the opening frame alone.

You need your goalie to steal a game or two in each series and, although the Golden Knights were in control for most of the game, they could have been in for a more difficult night were it not for Lehner’s heroics.

So, that leaves Head Coach Peter DeBoer with a tough decision to make heading into Game 4 later.

DeBoer has stressed time and time again that he plans on utilizing both parts of his two-headed goalie monster throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, particularly when navigating a back-to-back.

And that certainly becomes easier when your backup is Fleury, who not only entered Game 3 against the Chicago Blackhawks and played a starring role, but also boasts a sparkling postseason resume.

With three Stanley Cup rings and 136 postseason starts, Fleury is the man you want in the second game of a back-to-back with a chance to put the Canucks on the brink of elimination.

However, I’m a firm believer in riding the hot hand in sports and it drives me nuts that it has been largely driven out of Major League Baseball thanks to analytics.

After all, sports is a winning business and the Golden Knights are chasing a championship so it makes perfect sense that they would stick with Lehner after his performance in Game 3.

You wouldn’t take Mark Stone out after the forward recorded a five-point night the day before, would you?

Now, I know that is an apples and oranges comparison given that the goalie position is a unique craft, but it doesn’t make any sense why you wouldn’t ride with the hot hand in Game 4.

Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights is congratulated by his teammate, Nate Schmidt, after his 3-0 shutout victory against the Vancouver Canucks in Game Three. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

It is important to note that Lehner had an extra couple of days rest between Games 2 & 3, while a lot of his work in Game 3 came in the first period with the goalie only facing a combined total of 15 shots in the final 40 minutes of play.

Plus, there’s no travel in The Bubble so that’s one less thing to add any more wear on Lehner prior to Game 4.

He also seems to get better with the more shots he face, and he’s bound to have to deal with a lot of traffic in Game 4 given that the Canucks will be desperate not to go down 3-1 in the series.

Look at Lehner’s save totals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs so far as evidence of the above point:

8/11 – 19
8/13 – 22
8/16 – 22
8/18 – 23
8/23 – 26
8/25 – 22
8/29 – 31

With Vancouver set to bring it in Game 4 and really unleash their plethora of potent offensive weapons, putting a dialled in Robin Lehner back out there would be the smart play for the Golden Knights.

Now, there is a caveat at play here in that Lehner has a dodgy record when playing both games of a back-to-back, allowing four goals against twice and three goals against five times in the nine instances he’s started both games of a back-to-back in his career.

However, eight of those nine games came when Lehner was a member of the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres, so you have to keep that in mind when crunching the numbers too.

The ninth game was a 31-save shutout for the New York Islanders in 2018-19, the year Lehner was a Vezina Trophy finalist and a year in which the Islanders made the Playoffs.

Lehner is a better player than he was with the Senators and the Sabres, while he’s playing for an absolute juggernaut in the Golden Knights now.

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So, overall, while Marc-Andre Fleury is a damn good insurance policy, the Golden Knights have a chance to go up 3-1 in this series tonight and they should stick with their red hot goalie in Robin Lehner who gives them the best chance to win on a nightly basis.

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