The great goalie debate: Who should start for the Golden Knights in the playoffs?

One major question is bubbling under the surface of the Vegas Golden Knights' torrid stretch over the last couple of weeks with no indication of fading anytime soon: Who should be the goalie in the Stanley Cup playoffs?

Should Vegas continue to trust the longtime face of the franchise, Marc-Andre Fleury, despite a down year? Or should it go younger with prized trade-deadline acquisition Robin Lehner?

Opinions appear to be split down the middle among the Golden Knights’ fan base, and it’s no different in the Las Vegas Sun newsroom. Managing Editor Ray Brewer and  Golden Knights beat writer Justin Emerson are on opposite sides, so we’ve compiled their arguments.   

Read both why Fleury should stay in net and why Lehner should take over below to help come to your own conclusion.  

Ray Brewer’s case for Marc-Andre Fleury

Having Marc-Andre Fleury in goal is the best way for the Golden Knights to go on a long playoff run and win the Stanley Cup. Talks of Robin Lehner being the preferred playoff option are ridiculous.

Yes, Lehner has been the better of the two netminders over the past two weeks since being acquired from Chicago, meaning it’s easy to advocate for him to lead the postseason charge. But consider the competition. 

Two of Lehner’s three Vegas wins have come against the Sabres and Devils, a pair of non-playoff teams. And it’s not like Fleury has been awful; just look at what he did in a big spot Monday night when the Golden Knights beat the Oilers 3-2 in overtime.

Fleury iced the victory with a great, sliding save to deny Ethan Bear shortly before Shea Theodore’s game-winner. It was a stop a less agile player like Lehner wouldn’t have made.

Lehner has just 10 all-time playoff appearances, which is significant because the intensity is massively magnified in the postseason. Fleury, having started 115 playoff games, is more familiar with the pressure. Better yet, he’s thrived under the pressure.

Fleury, remember, carried Vegas to the Stanley Cup Final two seasons ago. And, let’s not forget, he was part of multiple championship teams with Pittsburgh. There’s no good logic for sitting someone with that kind of experience for an unproven goalie.

Sure, there’s the school of thought that experience is overrated and that winning playoff hockey games comes down to riding a hot goaltender to series win after series win. As Vegas saw in 2018, streaky play in net can be the difference between an early exit and a Stanley Cup appearance.

While experience can be debated in the Fleury vs. Lehner talk, familiarity of the opponent is not up for discussion. Fleury has spent the past three years battling against other teams in the Western Conference and knows what to expect for each team’s attack. Against the Golden Knights’ most likely first-round opponents, Fleury is 7-1 against the Flames and 4-2 against the Canucks. 

The majority of Lehner's career — aside from his brief stop in Chicago this season — has been in the Eastern Conference with the Senators, Sabres and Islanders, meaning he simply doesn’t have the reps needed for an intimate knowledge of the opponent. 

Lehner’s arrival helps the Golden Knights get back in the conversation of being a contender. He’s switching starts with Fleury in the final weeks of the season to give the Golden Knights’ starter the rest he needs to be at full strength for a Cup run. Fleury has looked a step slower at times this season, the direct result of overwork.

Lehner also gives Fleury competition — one bad game and there’s someone else who can step in. And maybe never step out.

But it won’t come to that. Fleury will be at his best for the playoffs and ready for a championship drive.

Justin Emerson’s case for Robin Lehner

When the Golden Knights acquired Robin Lehner at the trade deadline, the company line was that he was an insurance policy in case something happened to Marc-Andre Fleury. The Golden Knights already had their starting goalie and now they had one heck of a supplement in Lehner.  

It’s a good idea in theory. Fleury is a future Hall of Fame goalie, someone who was the backbone of one Stanley Cup champion Penguins team and an important member of two others. But what we’re seeing this year is a 35-year-old goalie who is having his worst season in a decade. That at least has something to do with why the team went out and got a 28-year-old in his prime. 

Lehner should start Game 1 of the playoffs.

Lehner has been a better goalie than Fleury for two seasons now. He was a Vezina finalist last season with the Islanders, winning the Jennings Trophy as the goalie who allowed the fewest goals per game. This year, he’s been just as good.

You like traditional stats? Lehner has a .920 save percentage and 2.89 goals-against average playing most of the season behind a weak Chicago defense. Fleury has him by a few points with a 2.77 GAA, but his .905 save percentage isn’t close. Lehner’s save percentage ranks 15th in the NHL this year. Fleury’s is 46th.

How about advanced stats? Lehner has saved 12.3 goals above average to rank seventh in the league, while Fleury is underwater at 8.2 goals saved below average via Evolving-Hockey. Fleury sits 12th worst in the NHL by the stat. Some knock Lehner’s season with New York as a byproduct of the tight defensive system the Islanders play. That may have been fair before this season, but he’s kept up his elite play behind worse defenses in Chicago and Vegas.

Vegas doesn’t owe Fleury anything because he took it to the Cup Final in 2018. Don’t forget that he won the championship for Pittsburgh in 2009, then watched from the bench as Matt Murray was on the ice for titles in 2016 and 2017.

The Golden Knights believe in winning over loyalty, which is a good thing. They let James Neal and David Perron walk away after the first season. They traded Erik Haula after he spent the entire year rehabbing to return for the playoffs. They fired Gerard Gallant 18 months after he won the league’s coach of the year trophy.

The Golden Knights’ brass wants nothing more than to win the Cup. Lehner, therefore, should be in net when the playoffs start.