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No doubt about it, Robin Lehner is Golden Knights’ No. 1 goalie

Updated September 4, 2020 - 10:37 pm

The tweet came a short time after he recorded another shutout, after the Golden Knights advanced to the Western Conference Final for the second time in three years of existence.

No doubt!!!

Robin Lehner was obviously referring to the Knights beating the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of the semifinal series, which it did by a 3-0 final Friday night at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.

But in a bigger picture of the present — and future? — such certainty also can be applied to who the Knights will live or die and win or lose with in net.

There was no real statement needed. It’s not as if Vegas coach Pete DeBoer hasn’t tipped his hand like an amateur card player since the Golden Knights arrived to the hub city.

It was a nice daily narrative and all, DeBoer insisting he was choosing between two No. 1 goalies in Lehner and Marc-Andre Fleury. Hey, you have to find something to talk about when stuck in a resort of a bubble. However scripted it seemed to protect feelings.

I’ve never been a math guy, but when one player has started 12 of 15 games since the playoffs commenced — including back to back in Games 6 and 7 against the Canucks — it’s a good indication he’s the only No. 1. There is no controversy. Never has been, really.

It’s also the only sensible conclusion.

Fleury’s future

The minute Lehner led his teammates onto the ice Friday, not 24 hours after he started what was a 4-0 loss, the mystery that hasn’t really been one at all was solved: Until the season ends with the Knights either being eliminated or lifting the Stanley Cup aloft in an empty arena, Lehner is the choice. You would assume only injury would alter such a path.

Which makes you wonder about the future of Fleury in a Knights sweater. Is the writing on the wall that he won’t return still in pencil or has it been upgraded to one of those fancy extreme permanent markers?

It’s not a simple equation to solve. Lehner is at the doorstep of unrestricted free agency and will be the top goaltender to hit the market — if he does. He has also signed three straight one-year contracts with three franchises. He’s not coming cheap to anyone, Vegas or otherwise.

That’s not the only financial hangup for a franchise that is hardly sitting pretty in the salary-cap department. Fleury still has two years remaining on a deal at $7 million annually, a whole lot of change for a goalie who will be 36 in November and coming off his worst season in a decade.

Vegas has to at least try to sign Lehner. You didn’t acquire him at the trade deadline and now choose him over the most popular player in the franchise’s short history — the guy who led it to the Stanley Cup Final two years ago — to let Lehner walk.

Did you?

Zero debate

So many questions. What would the trade market be for Fleury and how much salary would any willing partner demand the Knights cover? What if Lehner ultimately receives a better offer elsewhere and departs?

What, then, would the relationship between Fleury and the team that sat him really be?

What sort of crazy social media posts can we expect from agent Allan Walsh …

(That’s the one we really want to know.)

For now, there is no debate. Zero. Lehner is 8-4 in the playoffs with a 1.99 goals-against average and .918 save percentage. He also just tied an NHL record with three shutouts in a series.

In three starts, Fleury has a 2.67 goals-against average and an .893 save percentage.

“Coming into this game, I felt really confident we were going to win,” Lehner said. “We just stuck with it. It’s a hell of a team in that locker room. Everyone is really close, and everyone believes we are a really, really good team.”

They are, and have a great chance to defeat the Dallas Stars in the conference finals because, well, the Knights just have better goaltending. They have Lehner.

Time will pass and decisions will be made and the future will bring more concrete answers.

But for now, and until these playoffs end for the Golden Knights, there is a No. 1.

And only one.

No doubt.

Ed Graney is a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing and can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.

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