Golden Knights report: Robin Lehner’s shootout game improves
Golden Knights vs. Ducks
At a glance
Knights win 5-4 (SO)
RJ’s three stars
3. Knights defenseman Nic Hague — He had a goal and an assist for his fifth career game with at least two points. He’s been solid after moving to the top pair with Alex Pietrangelo, though he does have six penalty minutes his past three games.
2. Knights left wing Jonathan Marchessault — He had two primary assists on his team’s second and third goals. His line with center William Karlsson and right wing Reilly Smith was the Knights’ best.
1. Knights center Chandler Stephenson — He had a goal and primary assist in the third period to increase his team’s 2-1 lead to 4-1. He is the Knights’ leading scorer with nine points in eight games.
Key play
Left wing Evgenii Dadonov’s shootout winner.
The Knights were down to their final attempt before center Nicolas Roy scored to extend the shootout to an extra round. When goaltender Robin Lehner stopped Ducks right wing Troy Terry, coach Pete DeBoer sent out Dadonov for the potential game-winning shot, even though the 32-year-old had never scored in an NHL shootout.
Dadonov, who had an empty-net and overtime goal in his previous two games, beat goaltender John Gibson with a forehand shot to end the game.
Lehner, who had the lowest shootout save percentage in NHL history entering Friday, stopped three of four attempts. He’s won two consecutive shootouts dating to last season.
To celebrate, he posted a GIF on Twitter of a scene from the movie “Happy Gilmore” when the title character rounds out his golf game with his putting.
“I’ve been working quite a bit on it this season,” Lehner said. “I think I won the last one, so I just have to try to keep the momentum going.”
Key stat
4 — The number of goals the Knights scored in regulation.
That’s tied for the most they’ve had all season with their opener in Seattle. The team is 4-1 when it scores at least three goals and 0-3 when it doesn’t.
Knights quotable
“This was a huge week for us. We were staring at an absolutely potentially disastrous start instead of just a bad start, and I thought guys have dug deep all week to get us back to .500.” — DeBoer, on his team winning three straight after starting 1-4.
Knights’ next 10
At Maple Leafs, 4 p.m. Tuesday
At Senators, 4 p.m. Thursday
At Montreal, 4 p.m. Nov. 6
At Detroit, 3 p.m. Nov. 7
Vs. Seattle, 7 p.m. Nov. 9
Vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m. Nov. 11
Vs. Vancouver, 7 p.m. Nov. 13
Vs. Carolina, 7 p.m. Nov. 16
Vs. Detroit, 7 p.m. Nov. 18
Vs. Columbus, 7 p.m. Nov. 20
Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.
