Robin Lehner has left the Vegas Golden Knights on their road trip and is returning home to undergo testing for a lower-body injury.
To be clear, because I’ve seen some comments relating to this:
This injury is not related to Seravalli’s report of a shoulder injury. DeBoer specified it wasn’t the same injury. https://t.co/0xMauswH44
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) March 10, 2022
Lehner has started the last few games for the Golden Knights including a loss vs. the Philadelphia Flyers on March 8, a win vs. the Ottawa Senators on March 6, a loss vs. the Boston Bruins on March 3, and another win vs. the San Jose Sharks on March 1.
He’s been in and out of the lineup this year, and was first sidelined on December 21. He ultimately missed five games with a lower-body injury before being sidelined again on February 15 with an upper-body injury. He once again missed five games of play, returned to the lineup, and is once again in a position where he can miss some time.
This season Lehner’s played in 38 games, and has saved 0.28 goals above average, and 11.02 goals above expected according to Evolving-Hockey. Laurent Brossoit, his backup, has posted marks of -4.68, and 1.2 in each respective category. Logan Thompson has been called upon for two games this year, and in that small sample has saved 1.41 goals above average, and 0.63 goals above expected.
The Golden Knights currently sit in third place in the division with a record of 32-22-4 and 68 points, and trail the second place Los Angeles Kings by three points. Vegas is up on the Edmonton Oilers by two points, with Edmonton currently trying to bump Vegas back into a Wild Card spot currently being headlined by the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars.
When completely healthy upfront, it is fair to say this Golden Knights team would be able to hold on for a bit without Lehner. But this team isn’t healthy, and while adding Jack Eichel has been a big boost, the absence of Mark Stone is felt tremendously.
This is what we know for now, and we will update you when we learn more. Tonight the Golden Knights are in Buffalo to take on the Sabres, and it will be a very important game for a returning Jack Eichel.
For more on that storyline, you can read his breakdown by Knights on Ice’s own Jillian Wagner.
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