Golden Knights name goalie for Game 2 vs. Dallas Stars

The Golden Knights will start Robin Lehner in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.

It will be Lehner’s first start in a conference final. He will face Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin, who shut out the Knights in Game 1 on Sunday.

Lehner is 8-4 this postseason with a .918 save percentage and 1.99 goals-against average. He shut out the Vancouver Canucks in his last start in Game 7 of the second round. He tied an NHL playoff record with three shutouts in a series.

Coach Pete DeBoer opted not to start Lehner in Game 1 against the Stars after he played on back-to-back days in Games 6 and 7 against the Canucks. Marc-Andre Fleury started for the Knights’ third game in four days and was great. He saved the final 24 shots he faced in a 1-0 loss.

Fleury is 3-1 with a .910 save percentage and 2.27 goals-against average this postseason.

“I think both guys have been excellent,” DeBoer said Monday. “We knew coming in here that if I was to draw it up, I knew we were going to want to be able to play both guys, and they’ve allowed us to do that by how professional they’ve been and their preparation, their willingness to jump in there and get the job done for us.”

Khudobin was one save better than Fleury in Game 1. He stopped all 25 of the Knights’ shots for his first playoff shutout. The 34-year-old Russian improved to 9-5 with a .914 save percentage and 2.74 goals-against average this postseason.

Khudobin has been Dallas’ primary starter with Ben Bishop unavailable. Bishop, a three-time Vezina Trophy finalist, has appeared in only three playoff games. Stars coach Rick Bowness said Tuesday morning that Bishop remained “unfit to play.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.