As the Vegas Golden Knights and Vancouver Canucks series moves to a Game 7 that was unfathomable just a few days ago, when it looked like the Knights had everything under control, there is something of a goalie controversy brewing.
And it’s not coming from the team starting a rookie backup.
No, it’s Vegas that is now facing the very difficult decision on which of its two veterans to put in the crease Friday night. Robin Lehner has been the No. 1 through the playoff run so far, but has been mixed in this series, with two shutouts but a GAA of 3.00 and a sub-.900 save percentage in the other three games he started.
Fleury, meanwhile, has been the face of the Vegas franchise since Day 1 and his agent created waves with a controversial social media post just before this series started, which depicted a sword through the goalie’s back.
Some may call this the “impossible” decision.
So who should Vegas go with in Friday’s Game 7?
The case for Robin Lehner…
As Luongo indicated in his tweet, if Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer didn’t move away from Lehner in Game 6, it would be a tough call to do so now. He’s been solid for the Knights through most of this playoff run and has two shutouts in this series already, so to go another route for Game 7 would open up all sorts of questions if Vancouver came away with the win.
It’s true that Lehner has been the second-best goalie on the ice the last two games as Thatcher Demko has shone at the other end, but also not fair to put the blame for back-to-back losses on him. In Game 6, Lehner was screened (by his own teammates) on the second and third goals and obviously he had no goal support at all in the shutout loss.
In fact, the Golden Knights have scored just one goal on Demko over the past two games, putting their goalie in an impossible position. The real questions lie up front. Yes, the Golden Knights hold a heavy advantage in shots and scoring chances, but they’ve been unable to finish on the 24-year-old playoff rookie at the other end. It won’t matter which goalie Vegas chooses to go with in Game 7 if the offence doesn’t figure it out.
The other reason to stick with Lehner here is, while Fleury’s got name value, this has not been a tandem situation to this point. This is Lehner’s crease and he is the No. 1. The only games Fleury has started in this post-season were a round robin match against St. Louis, the first half of a back-to-back against Chicago when Vegas already had a 2-0 series lead, and the back half of a back-to-back against Vancouver in Game 4 of this series.
Had either of the past two losses really been on Lehner, then perhaps there would be a more solid reason to give the reins to Fleury in the deciding game. Lehner has the superior numbers and can’t be the focus of blame when assessing why there’s a Game 7 at all — so turning away from him now would be the riskier move.
That’s true even though this is a back-to-back situation. Usually you try and avoid playing the same goalie on back-to-back days and Vegas has followed that plan this post-season, though you can’t make a Game 7 decision based solely on that. And get this: while Lehner did not start on back-to-back nights at all this season, he did do it twice in 2018-19 — and in both cases the second starts were shutouts.
Lehner hasn’t done anything to lose his net, while Fleury has played just two games in 28 days and after his win in Game 4 of this series, he admitted that he needed some time to find his legs again.
“I felt those two weeks [between starts] early in the game,” Fleury said. “I think I was jittery, moving a little too much, but by the second (period) had a few more shots and started feeling better and by the third I thought I was back to normal, and my teammates really did a good job in the third, so they made my job easier too.”
Heading into a must-win Game 7, you don’t want a goalie who needs to find himself — and as Vegas controls the shot count, you also don’t want a goalie who needs to see a lot of rubber to feel comfortable. Again, risky.
The most important thing you can ask from a goalie in playoff time is consistency and Lehner has been a relatively steady hand. Choosing Fleury over Lehner now would add a risk factor that’s just not necessary.
The case for Marc-Andre Fleury…
When you’re trying to argue in favour of Fleury most of it will be for historical reasons, or for a “shot in the arm” feeling.
Fleury has won three Stanley Cups and he was Vegas’ starter when they went to the Cup final in their inaugural season. He was incredible in that run, too, until they met Washington and the bottom sort of fell out. He’s fifth in the NHL’s all-time playoff wins list. He’s a future Hall of Famer with a proven track record in big games and that’s nothing to gloss over.
He’s also had Vancouver’s number for quite some time — it’s been 14 years since Fleury lost in regulation to the Canucks. But how much can that really factor into a Game 7 decision?
And while Fleury’s overall numbers in the return to play haven’t been very shiny, if you only count the two starts he’s made in an elimination series game, he actually shows better than Lehner. Fleury led Vegas to a 2-1 win against Chicago and a 5-3 win against Vancouver, posting a .931 save percentage in those games. That’s a very small sample size and he’s undoubtedly the colder of the two goalies, but it’s not as though he’s been a problem when given the crease.
Don’t let one bad start against St. Louis — his first in five months — cloud his case to start Game 7.
Another factor in this decision is the optics of the thing. If Vegas did lose Game 7 with Lehner, they would have been eliminated following three consecutive losses in which they never used the face of the team. Fleury is not only beloved, but he was Vegas’ No. 1 through the vast majority of this season when they were one of the Western Conference’s best teams. And he was in net for their last win in this series.
Not giving him a chance in a big spot would be tough to look back on in defeat.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiSWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNwb3J0c25ldC5jYS9uaGwvYXJ0aWNsZS9nb2FsaWUtdmVnYXMtc3RhcnQtZ2FtZS03LXZhbmNvdXZlci_SAVBodHRwczovL3d3dy5zcG9ydHNuZXQuY2EvbmhsL2FydGljbGUvZ29hbGllLXZlZ2FzLXN0YXJ0LWdhbWUtNy12YW5jb3V2ZXIvc24tYW1wLw?oc=5
2020-09-04 14:45:00Z
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