Robin Lehner notches second shutout of Knights-Canucks series

Robin Lehner of Gothenburg, Sweden is having an outstanding second round playoff series for the Vegas Golden Knights. On Saturday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Lehner had 32 saves as the Golden Knights defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 to take a two games to one series lead.

Lehner, who was brilliant in the first period in game three, made 16 saves in the opening 20 minutes. That was followed by seven saves in the second period, and eight saves in the third period.

Lehner was clearly the better goaltender in game two. It was a struggle for Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom of Gavle, Sweden, who gave up first period goals to Alex Tuch of Syracuse, NY, and Zach Whitecloud of Brandon, Manitoba. For Whitecloud, it was only his second career National Hockey League goal. His first also came in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It came in a 6-4 win over the St. Louis Blues in the seeding round on August 6.

Lehner’s first shutout of the series came on August 23 in a 5-0 win over the Canucks.  In three games in the series, the Golden Knights have outscored the Canucks 10-5. Lehner did struggle in the second game of the series, as he gave up four goals on 26 shots.

Lehner’s shutouts against the Canucks were his first two playoff games of not giving up a goal in a game in his career. It will now be mighty interesting to see who Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer decides to start in game four against the Canucks on Sunday night. At the moment it would appear to possibly be Marc-Andre Fleury, but Lehner was so strong on Saturday, DeBoer could make a strong argument in starting Lehner again for the second game of a back-to-back.

In the other second round playoff series, the Tampa Bay Lightning lead the Boston Bruins three games to one, the Dallas Stars lead the Colorado Avalanche two games to one, and the New York Islanders lead the Philadelphia Flyers two games to one. The Lightning beat the Bruins 3-1 in game 4 on Saturday, while the Islanders beat the Flyers by an identical 3-1 score.