[UPDATE: Lehner’s season is over but he will need shoulder surgery.]
The Vegas Golden Knights will not have Robin Lehner for the remainder of the season as he needs surgery to repair a knee injury, according to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan and Jesse Granger of The Athletic.
When asked about the report on Friday head coach Peter DeBoer said, “Not to my knowledge. It was a maintenance day today. I expect him at practice tomorrow and I expect him dressed on Sunday [for Vegas’ game vs. San Jose].”
Lehner suffered the injury during a March 8 game against the Philadelphia Flyers. He has played only six games since with Logan Thompson getting 11 starts.
In those six starts Lehner allowed 17 goals and recorded a .892 save percentage. The 30-year-old started Wednesday’s game against the Washington Capitals but was pulled after one period with DeBoer saying he made the change because he felt the Golden Knights were rattled.
DeBoer had noted that Lehner was “healthy” and “fresh” earlier on Wednesday.
It looks like it will be Thompson’s net the rest of the way. The 25-year-old has posted a .926 save percentage and 3.84 goals saved above average in 15 games at 5-on-5 this season, per Natural Stat Trick.
The Golden Knights, who are off until Sunday, have four games to play and currently sit two points behind the Dallas Stars for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Four points ahead of Vegas with a game in-hand sit the Nashville Predators.
Thompson has 16 NHL starts to his name and now he’ll likely face the task of carrying a very heavy load the rest of the day in a season to forget for the franchise.
————
Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.