Knights goalie carries over strong playoff run into new season

The Dallas Stars appeared to have the Golden Knights beat in the first period Tuesday.

Center Wyatt Johnston, after flipping the puck across the offensive zone to linemate Evgenii Dadonov near the right wall, darted through the left circle. No one on the Knights appeared to know he was cutting to the net. No one picked him up before his one-time shot left his stick from 23 feet out.

Yet, as has become almost routine at this point, Adin Hill was there for his team.

The Knights goaltender was playing deep enough in his crease that he got over to his right and stopped Johnston’s shot with his left arm. It was an incredible save. The kind the Knights keep seeing more and more from the goalie who keyed much of their Stanley Cup run.

Hill’s start to the season has shown his postseason play was no fluke. He’s been excellent and a huge reason the Knights are the first defending champions since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings to start 4-0.

“He’s playing great hockey for us,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “The maturation I would say is probably just his calmness in the net. I think he trusts the system in front of him, he trusts the players in front of him, he trusts his own talent to get the job done.”

Hill’s wild career turn is well documented.

He was deemed expendable as San Jose’s third goaltender in August 2022, available for a fourth-round pick when the Knights needed help in the net. The team thought he would fit Cassidy’s system, and goaltending coach Sean Burke had good intel. Burke worked in Arizona’s front office the year the Coyotes drafted Hill. His son Brendan also shared a net with Hill in juniors with the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks.

“Sean should get all the credit for identifying the player,” Cassidy said. “Once (Burke) said, ‘Listen, this is a big guy, can cover a lot of net, play his angles, control rebounds,’ that’s kind of what our system wants out of their goaltender.”

The results were remarkable once Hill adapted to his new surroundings and defensive system.

Burke asked Hill to remain patient and stay on his feet longer to give himself more time to read plays. That work shows on saves like the one against Johnston. It’s made Hill so hard to beat. He almost always gets his 6-foot-4-inch frame in position to make an initial stop, and the Knights’ strong blue line is there just about every time to clear rebounds away.

As a result, Hill’s .935 save percentage since the All-Star break last season is the third-best in the NHL among goalies with at least five starts. The only two better are Boston’s Linus Ullmark, the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner, and Minnesota’s Filip Gustavsson.

That doesn’t even factor in Hill’s postseason work. His .932 save percentage after taking over for goaltender Laurent Brossoit, who will start for the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday against the Knights, led all starters.

Hill also deserves a lot of credit for his team’s perfect start on the penalty kill this season, as he hasn’t allowed a goal in 16 shots faced.

“Obviously, Hilly’s made some big saves at key times,” center Jack Eichel said.

It’s all added up to a strong start for a player who signed a two-year, $9.8 million extension in the offseason. Hill came into camp a season ago trying to learn a new system and what new skaters in front of him were going to do. He looks far more comfortable to start this season. He’s showing his success from last summer can be sustainable.

“You learn your D-corps group and what everyone’s going to do and what to expect,” Hill said. “You just get more familiar with it.”

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