The Vegas Golden Knights have had a rough go this season. Starting the season off with a win against the Seattle Kraken before going on a horrid losing streak, really put the Knights fan-base in a predicament. The Knights are a terrific organization, but when the season starts like it did, it’s easy to lose faith.
Now, although the Vegas Golden Knights are starting to get back to the team everyone knew them to be, it was rough to see the light at the end of the tunnel for awhile there. When you lose as many key contributors as they did, and were losing them during the game, it’s hard to finish the game strong short-handed. However, in each and every game that they played while dealing with all the injuries they faced, there was one person who consistently stood out. He was able to keep the Knights in each and every game: Robin Lehner.
While dealing with injuries, you need players have to step up in order to win-not many did. During the stretch of games in which they went on their losing streak there was only one bright spot for the Vegas Golden Knights: Robin Lehner. Given how well he played, he has earned his place in the Vezina Trophy conversation. Here’s why
Throughout everything the Vegas Golden Knights have endured, the one consistency they’ve had is goalie, Robin Lehner. No matter who they are playing against or how far behind they may be, Lehner continues to excel in net.
If you have watched any Vegas Golden Knights game this season there is one thing that you’d notice: How terrific Lehner has played.
I’ve always lived by the idea that stat’s don’t tell the full story-That stands to be true with Lehner. Stats can be easily skewed to make players seem way better than they actually are. With teams that are a defensive minded like the New York Islanders, Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin are obviously going to have less shots to save. That’s not how teams like the Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers or Vegas Golden Knights, play. They play a strong offensive game throughout the ice.
The Vegas Golden Knights although they do have some talent on their defense, they still have had to deal with lot’s of injuries. Those injuries have put not just pressure on the other defenseman to step up, and for Lehner to step up as well. On top of the pressure that Lehner already faces on a nightly basis, he had even more pressure on him while some of his best defensive players were out.
That’s the reasoning behind why Robin Lehner could be a Vezina Trophy Candidate. Lehner, despite playing with a weak and banged up defensive core, still puts on a absolute clinic just about every time he’s on the ice.
Robin Lehner this season has a goals allowed average(GAA) of 2.96 and save percentage of .913. Lehner has not only been one of the better goalies this season in terms of those stats, but has made some of the most spectacular saves on grade A chances.
Lehner has simply played remarkable and deserves to be in the conversation for the Vezina Trophy. I believe that with everything I have. If you were to put just about any other goalie into Lehner’s spot, I don’t think that the Vegas Golden Knights would be anywhere close to where they are right now.