Graney: Robin Lehner isn’t why Golden Knights lost Game 1

DENVER

For the first time in these Stanley Cup playoffs, Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer started Robin Lehner in net.

Colorado torched the Knights 7-1 on Sunday in Game 1 of the West Division final best-of-seven series.

And it was absolutely the right choice to go with Lehner.

I mean, it wasn’t entirely his fault the Golden Knights were totally outclassed.

No matter the outcome — a serious butt-kicking by the Avalanche — this was the perfect spot to go with Lehner. You can’t — as DeBoer has done so often the past few seasons — continue saying your team has two No. 1 goalies and a postseason advantage by always having a rested one and not support the stance.

Marc-Andre Fleury played all seven games in a 14-day span against Minnesota in the previous series. He was very good. But it also could prove beneficial as this series moves forward to allow him several days off.

“It was an opportunity to use (Lehner) and make sure Robin got in a game and remained sharp,” DeBoer said. “I wouldn’t change the decision. The game wasn’t about Robin Lehner, obviously.”

Let’s be real. Lehner wasn’t good. He allowed seven goals on 37 shots. Some his fault. A handful that weren’t.

But those in front of him were far worse.

The rainstorm that hit this capital city Sunday was a mere drizzle compared to the tempest awaiting the Golden Knights inside Ball Arena.

Lehner’s night began when Mikko Rantanen beat him with a backhand at 4:55 of the first period. Then the clouds really opened.

Colorado toyed with the Knights. Its top line, as elite as the NHL knows, dominated. Even if Fleury had played, Game 1 would have been a mismatch on the western edge of the High Plains.

Lost their way

It’s fine when you’re getting run out of an arena to try to find a spark for Game 2. That usually means ratcheting things up physically. Playoff hockey. Things get testy. It’s part of the deal.

But the Knights lost their way searching for retaliation after a second-period hit by Colorado defenseman Ryan Graves on Mattias Janmark.

It wasn’t pretty. Janmark never saw Graves, who went through the shoulder and into the neck area when planting the Knights forward into the boards. Janmark didn’t return.

Graves was assessed a minor penalty for interference, just as Knights forward Ryan Reaves was for driving Wild defenseman Ryan Suter into the goal post during Game 7 of the previous series.

Both were dangerous, dirty, unnecessary hits. Each probably deserved at least a double minor.

Instead, Reaves doubled down Sunday.

He was assessed a match penalty for intent to injure when he took Graves down near the Colorado crease and faces a possible suspension. It happens when you’re kneeling on another player’s head as he lies on the ice within a scrum.

At that point, things went completely off the rails. Zach Whitecloud and Alex Pietrangelo received 10-minute misconducts and Max Pacioretty a minor for the Knights. Brandon Saad and Valeri Nichushkin received 10-minute misconducts for the Avalanche. It all got pretty stupid, actually.

Back to Fleury?

“We obviously didn’t like the (Graves) hit and lost a player,” Knights captain Mark Stone said. “But you’re down 4-0 (at that point) and try to get yourself in the game any way. We kind of got away from our game.”

Here’s one thing that will change: You can expect Fleury to return as the Game 2 starter Wednesday after sitting Sunday. You have to believe it was always the plan.

It wasn’t a bad one. The Knights should have started Lehner in Game 1.

They certainly didn’t get taken to the woodshed because of it.

Ed Graney is a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing and can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.