Knights call up goaltender with another netminder hurt

The Golden Knights’ goaltender concerns went up another level Wednesday.

The Knights announced goaltender Logan Thompson was day-to-day with an upper-body injury and recalled goaltender Isaiah Saville from Henderson.

The team is already without goaltender Adin Hill on its three-game road trip, which continues with a 4 p.m. game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. Hill aggravated a lower-body injury Sunday against the Ottawa Senators in his first start since Nov. 30.

Thompson relieved Hill but appeared to play much of the third period in pain. He still started Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes, but was pulled in the third after allowing a career-high six goals in a 6-3 loss.

The Knights now may not have either of their top two goaltenders in their final two games before the NHL’s holiday break. The only goalie on the trip other than Saville is Jiri Patera, who made his fourth career appearance in relief of Thompson on Tuesday.

Patera stopped all 10 shots he faced against the Hurricanes.

“It’s great experience,” Patera said. “Every opportunity I can get, I’m happy with that. I always try to do my best to help the team get a win, but unfortunately it didn’t end up that way (Tuesday).”

The Knights may have no choice but to rely on Patera and Saville for the foreseeable future.

Patera, 24, has fared well in limited NHL opportunities so far. He is 3-0 with a .924 save percentage the last two seasons. He is 6-6-2 with a .900 save percentage for the Silver Knights this year.

Saville has yet to make his NHL debut.

The 23-year-old has impressed in Henderson this season in limited opportunities. Saville is 3-0-0 with a .950 save percentage for the Silver Knights, and has a .918 save percentage in 21 career American Hockey League appearances.

The Golden Knights will need one or both of Patera and Saville to step up with Hill and Thompson ailing. It’s a situation similar to the one the Knights faced last season, when they started a franchise-record five goaltenders because their top two options were hurt for long stretches after the All-Star break.

The team has at least shown it can handle the adversity. The Knights posted the best record in the Western Conference last season. This year the defending Stanley Cup champions are atop the standings in the conference and the Pacific Division through 33 games, even after losing to the Hurricanes on Tuesday.

“We won last year, and we’re still winning this year,” right wing Jonathan Marchessault said. “We’re a pretty good team still. I have no problem with the way our team responds. I have a lot of confidence in this team, and that will always be the case as long as I play here.”

The Knights will need to improve their defensive performance from Tuesday no matter who is in net.

They allowed a season-high six goals to the Hurricanes and trailed by five goals at one point in the third period. A particular concern is their penalty kill.

Carolina went 3-for-3 on the power play in the win. The three goals were the most the Knights have allowed on the penalty kill this season and the most they have surrendered since March 28 against Edmonton.

The rough performance came one game after the team allowed two power-play goals to Ottawa on Sunday, though one came when Hill was injured. Still, prior to this stretch the Knights allowed just two power-play goals in their previous 13 games.

“We really needed a big kill on the fourth (Carolina) goal, and they managed to get a greasy rebound and score,” Marchessault said. “Good for them. Their power play came up big, and we had no response.”

The Knights need to be better Thursday against the Lightning. That was true before Thompson’s injury was announced. It’s critical now that the team is left with two unproven options in net.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.