Robin Lehner is more than happy to be sharing the crease in Vegas with teammate Marc-Andre Fleury.
"I’ve played with some really good goaltenders in my career and playing with Marc-Andre is a privilege," Lehner said during his season exit interview Saturday. "We’ve grown a lot closer to each other and it’s been a pretty special couple of seasons here."
When the Golden Knights signed Lehner to a five-year, $25-million contract in October, many figured he would overtake Fleury for the starting role. However, with Lehner sidelined for much of the season with an injury, it turned out to be a different story.
Fleury put together one of the best seasons of his career and was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy for the first time. He appeared in 36 games to Lehner's 19 while recording a 1.98 goals-against average and .928 save percentage.
Even though Lehner was healthy heading into the postseason, the Golden Knights stuck with Fleury for all seven games in Round 1 against the Minnesota Wild. Lehner ended up appearing in just three playoff games, with two coming in Round 3 against the Montreal Canadiens.
Head coach Pete DeBoer made it clear he's aware he was lucky to have the tandem this season and devoted much of his team's success to the goalies, but said "next year is a different year," according to The Athletic's Jesse Granger. He pointed to the fact next season the schedule won't be condensed.
Fleury has just one more season remaining on his contract before he's set to become an unrestricted free agent. During his exit interview Saturday, Fleury said he hasn't given much thought about the future but hopes he can finish his career in Vegas.
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