HE’S OPEN AND SHUT
Lehner’s honesty is refreshing and his play in goal dominating
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Just a month into the Blackhawks’ season, eye-opening, tell-it-like-it-is quotes from goalie Robin Lehner have become a nightly occurrence.
After the victory Sunday against the Ducks, in which Lehner delivered another spectacular performance (36 saves on 38 shots) that raised his save percentage to .939, he spoke candidly again.
Asked how his percentage, thirdbest in the league entering Monday, is even higher behind such a porous Hawks defense than it was last season with the stout Islanders, Lehner provided the answer — even though it threw two teams partially under the bus.
“People talk a lot about last year, but I played for arguably the worst defensive team in the league for three years in Buffalo, so it’s nothing new,” the 28-year-old said. “And I put up good numbers there no matter what anyone says. But, again, I’m four years older, the read in my game is better [now].”
Constantly dressed in an oversized hoodie and lounging deep in his locker seat, providing his insights and opinions on not only his play but the play of every other unit on the team, Lehner follows none of the typical expectations for an uptight, professional NHL player.
It’s a thoroughly refreshing approach within a locker room that has bordered on depressing during this rough start.
And he can get away with it because he has been unquestionably the Hawks’ most valuable player.
In terms of point shares, a holistic stat created by Hockey Reference that attempts to quantify the points in the standings a player has earned for his team, Lehner’s 2.3 more than doubles Patrick Kane’s 1.0 for the team lead. The Hawks’ 4-6-3 record is bad, but it would be much worse if not for Lehner, and coach Jeremy Colliton and Jonathan Toews often have said as much.
In fact, when measured by point shares per game, Lehner is the third-most valuable player in the NHL, trailing only the Bruins’ David
Pastrnak and Tuukka Rask. He has been that good.
In particular, Lehner has been excellent on the penalty kill throughout his career, even before his Vezina Trophy campaign last season. Lehner explained that thoughtfully Sunday, too.
“I play quite differently than other goalies on the penalty kill,” he said. “I don’t move much, I try to stand in the middle of my net and do a lot of pre-scout and see who’s going to shoot. The ‘D’ and I are on the same page, I get to see shots, and when I don’t see them, I know what coverage they have.”
This is no “just play my game” caliber of analysis. Lehner’s intelligence is obvious on and off the ice.
He understands that the team he has kept afloat has glaring weaknesses.
But he also believes in the team, as he outlined in a memorable, heartfelt speech after a loss to the Golden Knights several weeks ago. And together, Lehner and the defense proved Sunday that a strange sort of coordinated chaos might be effective.
Just let Lehner explain. “There’s scrambles in the game [when] you’ve just got to try to do something,” he said. “But I think we did a good job scrambling together when it was scramble mode. [The] ‘D’ played real hard and helped me out, and we stuck in there together, so that was good.”