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Vegas Golden Knights: Three Storylines to focus on in WCF

By Andrew Steele-Davis

Thatcher Demko #35 of the Vancouver Canucks and Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights shake following Lehner's 3-0 shutout against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game Seven of the Western Conference Second Round. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Thatcher Demko #35 of the Vancouver Canucks and Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights shake following Lehner's 3-0 shutout against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game Seven of the Western Conference Second Round. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights leads his team out for warm-ups prior to the game against the Vancouver Canucks in Game Seven
Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights leads his team out for warm-ups prior to the game against the Vancouver Canucks in Game Seven of the Western Conference Second Round. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

1. Who gets the crease?

Robin Lehner or Marc-Andre Fleury?

That is the million dollar question that seems to be driving a bit of a wedge between team and fanbase right now.

It has been one long honeymoon period since the Golden Knights entered the NHL in 2017, but this year there has been a lot of turbulence.

A hell of a lot.

It started when the front office stunned the hockey world by firing Head Coach Gerard Gallant, and then replacing him with Head Coach of your arch-rivals, Peter DeBoer.

A chunk of the Golden Knights fanbase still haven’t come around to DeBoer yet, and that hasn’t been helped by his perceived handling of the current goalie situation.

It has been well documented so we don’t need to go over the fine details, but it will remain a hot storyline heading into this series.

Robin Lehner seems to be the main guy for DeBoer and the front office, the guy they clearly think gives them the best chance to win.

Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Vegas Golden Knights sits on the bench prior to the game against the Dallas Stars in Game One
Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Vegas Golden Knights sits on the bench prior to the game against the Dallas Stars in Game One of the Western Conference Final. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

That was backed up by the fact that Lehner started both Games 6 & 7, which were a back-to-back, against the Vancouver Canucks despite DeBoer previously stating that he would utilize both parts of his two-headed goalie monster.

So what happens going forward?

Well it appears almost certain that Lehner would start Game 1 against the Stars and, with no back-to-backs in this series, it could well be Lehner’s crease to lose now.

It will be a tough pill to swallow for Vegas fans if that is the case, and it will also be a tough pill to swallow for Fleury who has performed very well when he’s been called upon this postseason.

This will be an interesting storyline to keep an eye on for sure.

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