Golden Knights name starting goalie for Game 7 vs. Canucks

The Golden Knights will turn to Robin Lehner with their season on the line.

Lehner will make his third straight start in Game 7 of the Knights’ second-round series against the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. The 29-year-old pending free agent is 7-4 with a .914 save percentage and 2.17 goals-against average in the postseason.

Lehner has lost his past two starts after giving up five goals on 39 shots. Coach Pete DeBoer still placed his trust in the 2019 Vezina Trophy finalist despite the fact that Lehner started Game 6 Thursday.

“Best chance to win,” DeBoer said Friday morning on his criteria for choosing a goaltender. “That’s the only thought process. Who gives us the best chance to win.”

The Canucks will start rookie Thatcher Demko for the third straight game. The 24-year-old has been sensational since making his first-ever playoff start in Game 5 on Tuesday. He has stopped 90 of 91 shots, has a shutout streak of 84:48 and has made 66 consecutive saves.

Demko has never started on back-to-back days in his 37-game NHL career. He was 12-8-4 with a .923 save percentage and 2.23 goals-against average in the second of back-to-back games at Boston College, according to collegehockeyinc.com.

“Thatcher’s always been a special goalie,” said Knights right wing Alex Tuch, who was teammates with Demko at the U.S. National Development Team and at Boston College. “He’s been playing really well, but we’re going to try to come out and break him tonight.”

DeBoer’s decision to start Lehner breaks from his tendency to play both his goaltenders during a back to back. Lehner and Marc-Andre Fleury each played one game the two previous times the Knights played on consecutive days.

Fleury is 3-0 in the postseason with an .893 save percentage and a 2.67 goals-against average. The likely future Hall of Famer is sixth all time in playoff wins with 81.

But Fleury has ceded the crease to Lehner in the postseason. DeBoer has made it clear Lehner is his first-choice goaltender, and he’s playing him again in a must-win game.

“Whoever plays, plays,” Lehner said Thursday night. “(If I start) I’ll do my best. I always do. I feel pretty good out there. Just the bounces are not going our way right now. They get two posts and in, we get two posts and out. There was a couple open nets that just bounced on us in the first period. It’s small margins, and if you play, just got to do your best.”

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