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March 28, 2024

Robin Lehner starts, Max Pacioretty returns as Golden Knights open playoff series with Blackhawks

Chicago

Charles Rex Arbogast / AP

Golden Knights left wing Max Pacioretty (67) celebrates with Nick Holden after Holden’s game-tying goal during the third period of the team’s NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019, in Chicago. The Golden Knights won in a shootout, 2-1.

Updated Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020 | 10:21 a.m.

The Golden Knights are going with their trade deadline acquisition in Game 1 of the playoffs tonight.

Coach Peter DeBoer announced Tuesday morning that Robin Lehner would start in goal for the Golden Knights when they open their postseason series against the Chicago Blackhawks at 7:30 p.m. Lehner was acquired in February from Chicago and got the nod over three-year incumbent goalie Marc-André Fleury.

"It wasn't what (Fleury) didn't do — (Fleury was great — it's what Robin has done since he got here," DeBoer said. "This isn't a case of one guy not getting the job done, this is just one guy I think, from the time he got here, just being fantastic."

Lehner has been terrific in five starts since arriving in Vegas, all victories including two in the round-robin. Lehner has been one of the top goalies in the NHL for two seasons, completing last season as a Vezina finalist and following it up with another strong campaign this year with Chicago and Vegas.

Tonight's game will also feature the return of winger Max Pacioretty, who missed the round-robin nursing an injury. While is team was on the ice steps away from the hotel attached to the arena, Pacioretty was doing everything he could to stay game-ready while confined to his room during quarantine. That’s over now, and he's excited to hit the ice.

"I had some weights and a stationary bike in my room so I tried to do whatever I could to stay in shape," Pacioretty said. "But at the end of the day I just found myself working out and watching hockey, so it kind of helped me get back into the groove of things."

Pacioretty arrived in Edmonton last week, more than a week after the rest of the team. He was hurt in training camp with what DeBoer only specified as a “minor injury,” and missed about two weeks of action. He stayed in Las Vegas for the flexibility of ice time and doctor availability, took a charter flight into Edmonton on Aug. 3 and returned to practices late last week.

The Golden Knights are fully healthy, a scary proposition considering the team went 3-0 and scored 15 goals against the other top conference teams during the round robin to determine playoff seeding.

“You add a guy like Max back into our lineup and it’ll have a ripple effect on our team to have that many more guys with skill and speed,” defenseman Nate Schmidt said. “That just is the biggest difference with where we are now and where we have been.”

Schmidt, an original Golden Knight, called this year’s team “even more dangerous than we ever have been,” citing specifically its forward depth. Pacioretty, Mark Stone and William Karlsson form perhaps the best line Vegas has ever had, but even a third line of Chandler Stephenson, Nicolas Roy and Alex Tuch can cause problems.

It’s a reason the Golden Knights are listed as minus-360 betting favorites to win the series and as one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup at 4-to-1 odds.

Another reason is that everyone is healthy now, including Pacioretty, whose quarantine has expired and is now free to do everything the rest of his teammates can, which admittedly isn’t much. The Golden Knights and every other team still remaining are relegated to the bubble — the arena, the hotel and the practice rink.

It’s a bit of a grind on the players, no doubt, but as Schmidt said, that leaves them with one thing to do.

“It’s hard mentally sometimes. You’re used to being out and about and you’re stuck in a hotel, but you still get to play hockey,” Schmidt said. “You’re here, you’re stuck in this bubble, you might as well come here and try and win the thing.”

Series: Tied 0-0

TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-210, Blackhawks plus-175; over/under: 6.5 (minus-105, minus-115)

Golden Knights (3-0, Western Conference No. 1 seed)

Previous round: Defeated Dallas, St. Louis and Colorado in round-robin

Coach: Peter DeBoer (first season)

Points leaders: Mark Stone (5)

Goals leaders: Alex Tuch (3)

Assists leaders: Nick Cousins, Mark Stone (5)

Expected goalie: Robin Lehner (2.89 GAA, .903 save percentage)

Blackhawks (3-1, Western Conference No. 12 seed)

Previous round: Defeated Edmonton 3-1 in qualifying round

Coach: Jeremy Colliton (second season)

Points leaders: Jonathan Toews (7)

Goals leader: Jonathan Toews (4)

Assists leaders: Kirby Dach, Duncan Keith (4)

Expected goalie: Corey Crawford (3.75 GAA, .891 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Max Pacioretty—William Karlsson—Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault—Paul Stastny—Reilly Smith

Chandler Stephenson—Nicolas Roy—Alex Tuch

William Carrier—Nick Cousins—Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb—Nate Schmidt

Alec Martinez—Shea Theodore

Nick Holden—Zach Whitecloud

Goalies

Robin Lehner, Marc-André Fleury

Justin Emerson can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Justin on Twitter at twitter.com/@j15emerson.

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