Robin Lehner overcomes early hiccups to win Golden Knights debut

Robin Lehner’s Golden Knights debut got off to a sour start.

It started when his Knights’ equipment wasn’t ready for practice Thursday, forcing him to wear his Chicago Blackhawks mask and pads Friday against the Buffalo Sabres. Then the first shot he saw got past him.

There wasn’t much to complain about afterwards. Lehner locked in after his early hiccup to win his first start since being acquired in a Monday trade. He made 32 saves — including 30 consecutive after the first goal — and helped his new team defeat his old one 4-2 at T-Mobile Arena.

“You just get traded, you just want to go in and do your best and give the guys a chance to win,” said Lehner, who played for Buffalo from 2015-18. “There wasn’t that many shots in the second, but I thought there was some really good chances and then they came out in the third and took care of me, so that was good.”

Coach Pete DeBoer admitted postgame he did not give Lehner an easy assignment. The goaltender’s first home start came on the heels of a seven-game winning streak by the Knights and a shutout performance by Marc-Andre Fleury.

Talk about a tough act to follow.

Lehner, red equipment and all, proved up to the task. He used his massive 6-foot-4, 240-pound frame to wall off the net from oncoming Sabres. His style isn’t quite as balletic as Fleury’s, but then again, he has two inches and more than 50 pounds on his new teammate.

The way he plays has been plenty effective, too. Lehner was a Vezina Trophy finalist last season and has a career .918 save percentage.

“(Lehner) back there was huge for us,” rookie defenseman Zach Whitecloud said, making an unintentional pun. “He’s making saves all over the crease and bailing the boys out in certain spots.”

Whitecloud wasn’t the only one impressed.

“Pretty awesome,” center William Karlsson said.

“So many great saves,” right wing Nicolas Roy said.

“I thought he was really solid,” DeBoer said.

Lehner won his new teammates over quickly with his calmness and confidence. He settled in after allowing the early goal and made several impressive stops. He stacked his pads to stop right wing Kyle Okposo and made a nice glove save on Sabres star Jack Eichel.

If Lehner keeps playing like that, he and Fleury could become one of the best goaltender tandems in the NHL. The potential is certainly there. It’ll just take more starts like Friday’s for Lehner to make it a reality.

“It’s nice to get the first one over with,” Lehner said. “And just kind of look forward to the next games.”

Miller returns

Sabres defenseman Colin Miller, who was with the Knights their first two seasons and scored the first Stanley Cup Final goal in franchise history, returned to T-Mobile Arena on Friday.

Miller was traded in July for a second- and fifth-round pick.

He seemed plenty fired up about it. Miller had five hits, second-most on the Sabres, and didn’t hesitate to be physical with his former teammates.

He also received a tribute video on the scoreboard in the first period.

Shutdown D

The Knights played three superstar forwards their last two games — the Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, as well as Eichel — and held the trio scoreless.

Draisaitl (99 points) is the NHL’s leading scorer, while McDavid (87, fourth) and Eichel (77, tied-ninth) are also in the top 10.

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