Robin Lehner having season-ending surgery, Golden Knights dispute report
Anthony Scultore
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Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner will have season-ending knee surgery, ESPN reported Friday.
Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer, however, disputed the report when asked by beat reporters why Lehner was not in attendance on Friday.
“Not to my knowledge. It was a maintenance day today,” DeBoer said. “I expect him at practice tomorrow. I expect him dressed on Sunday.”
Robin Lehner playing on a bad knee
Lehner sustained the injury on March 8 at Philadelphia and was placed on injured reserve six days later.
He returned to action on April 3 and started Wednesday’s game against the Washington Capitals. He was pulled after stopping 12 of 13 shots in the first period.
Lehner, 30, finishes with a 23-17-2 record with one shutout, a 2.83 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage in 44 starts.
With four regular-season games left, Vegas (42-31-5, 89 points) trails the Dallas Stars by two points for the second wild-card slot in the Western Conference.
Lehner is 152-141-49 with 17 shutouts, a 2.71 GAA and a .917 save percentage in 364 career games (345 starts) with the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Chicago Blackhawks and Golden Knights.
Vegas fighting for their playoff lives
Vegas is currently fighting for their playoff lives with four games remaining. One of those games is against the Dallas Stars, who hold a two point lead on the Knights. If Vegas wins out, they hold the tie-breaker and could claim the final wild card spot.
They will now have to rely on 25 year-old netminder Logan Thompson to get them to the promised land.
This season, he’s posted 9-5-0 record with a 2.56 GAA and a .920 SV%. He made a brief relief appearance last season picking up two saves on two shots.
–Field Level Media contributed to this report