Rookie Vegas Golden Knights netminder Logan Thompson turned away all 27 shots put on net by the Chicago Blackhawks to post his first shutout of the season Thursday night in the young season’s home opener at T-Mobile Arena.
With number one goaltender Robin Lehner out for the season due to hip surgery and a long rehabilitation process, the starting goaltending position was up for grabs during training camp. New coach Bruce Cassidy saw good things from 25-year old Thompson, and newly acquired puck stopper Adin Hill.
Thompson won game one Tuesday night in Los Angeles 4-3, thanks to a last-minute goal from team captain Mark Stone. Hockey pundits from all over North America have been saying that the Vegas Golden Knights look very solid throughout the lineup, except for the goaltending position. The pressure is on both Thompson and Hill to backstop this team into the playoffs, after they missed a chance to play for the Stanley Cup last spring.
So, Golden Knights fans should be happy to see a very solid performance from the young netminder on Thursday night against the Blackhawks, who had a lot of good chances against Thompson in the first period.
And, with all the star firepower the Golden Knights possess with names like Stone, Jack Eichel, William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, Phil Kessel and Reilly Smith at forward, and studs like Alex Pietroangelo, Shea Theodore, and Alec Martinez on defense, you would expect they could score a bunch of goals to give their rookie netminder a bit of a cushion against a rebuilding team like the Blackhawks. But it was 22-year old fourth liner Paul Cotter who scored the lone goal for the home team Thursday night. In all fairness, Vegas did put 37 shots on goal, but Chicago goalie Alex Stalock was excellent in net as well.
In other team news, it was good to see newly resigned defenseman Nic Hague back in the lineup and on the ice Thursday night in the home opener. Now, the Vegas Golden Knights go on the road for a battle against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night, and over to Calgary to face the Flames next Tuesday night. Go Knights Go!!
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Larry Martino is the long-time Afternoon Drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.