Knights call up goaltender as injuries flare before road trip

Several Golden Knights players have joked packing for road trips has become easy lately.

Repetition tends to do that.

The Knights jumped on yet another airplane Monday as they embark on a three-game eastern swing, beginning with a 4 p.m. Tuesday game against the Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C.

“We’ve been on the road a lot,” captain Mark Stone said Sunday. “We’d like to be home, but we have a pretty favorable schedule coming up here in January and February with a lot of good home-ice games and some nice rest periods. We still want to keep banking these points. Other teams are winning in our conference, so when we go out on the road we expect to win games.”

It’s not the volume of games that is wearing on the Knights. They’re 9-3-3 away from home and their 15 road contests are just above the NHL average. But some of their trips have been long. This is the Knights’ second long flight east this season. They’ve also made three different stops in Canada.

Stone said the team understands their assignment when they hit the road. That’s led to the Knights’ success.

“These are business trips,” Stone said. “I know teams say that, but that’s what this team does. Yeah, we have a lot of fun. We have a great group of guys who love to have fun on the road, but these are business trips and we expect to get points.”

It helps that the Knights played a solid all-around game Sunday at T-Mobile Arena in a 6-3 win against the Senators. They want to bottle up that performance and bring it to games against Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida.

“I think we’ve been playing some good hockey and been liking how we’ve been playing,” center Chandler Stephenson said. “Special teams, five-on-five, everything’s been good. So just take it on the road with us.”

The largest question for the Knights this trip is which goaltenders will be available.

Adin Hill started against the Senators for the first time since Nov. 30. He lasted less than seven minutes. Hill appeared to aggravate a lower-body injury and was relieved by goaltender Logan Thompson.

The concerns don’t end there. Thompson appeared to play much of the third period in pain after going down awkwardly to make a save.

Coach Bruce Cassidy said he believes Thompson could be OK after a day of rest Monday.

“Hopefully it’s nothing and he’s ready to go on Tuesday,” Cassidy said.

The Knights called up goaltender Jiri Patera on Monday with Hill and Thompson ailing. The 24-year-old won his lone NHL start this season, a 5-4 shootout victory against the San Jose Sharks on Dec. 10.

The goaltender injuries bring back memories from a year ago, when the Knights started a franchise-record five goalies during the regular season on their way to winning the Stanley Cup.

“Hopefully we don’t go through a run like last year, but if we do we’ll have to manage it,” Cassidy said.

The Knights did at least get some positive injury news Sunday.

Defenseman Alec Martinez returned from a lower-body injury to play his first game since Nov. 19. Martinez blocked two shots, fired two shots on goal and had a plus-1 rating against the Senators.

The Knights also called up right wing Jonas Rondbjerg from Henderson for their road trip.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.