Marc-Andre Fleury started each game for Vegas against the Minnesota Wild in the best-of-7 first round, when he had a 1.71 goals-against average, a .931 save percentage and one shutout. The Golden Knights advanced with a 6-2 win in Game 7 on Friday.
"The decision to go with Robin was, 'Flower' had just played seven games in 14 days, and an emotional Game 7," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "It was a perfect opportunity in our minds to use our other starter, and that's been a strength of ours all year, and make sure Robin got in a game and stayed sharp because we know we're going to need him. So there was a lot of rationale for it.
"I wouldn't change the decision. The game tonight wasn't about Robin Lehner, and obviously we didn't play well enough in front of him."
Lehner had not played since May 10, when he allowed two goals on 21 shots in a 2-1 loss to the Avalanche. He was 13-4-2 with a 2.29 GAA, a .913 save percentage and one shutout in 19 starts this season, his first after signing a five-year, $25 million contract as a free agent Oct. 3. He combined with Fleury to win the William M. Jennings Trophy as the goalies who played for the team allowing the fewest goals in the NHL during the regular season (124).
RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Avalanche series coverage]
Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is at Colorado on Wednesday.
Lehner received the bulk of the playing time in the 2020 playoffs for the Golden Knights, going 9-7 with a 1.99 GAA, a .917 save percentage and four shutouts to help them advance to the Western Conference Final.
Fleury, who won the Stanley Cup three times with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2009, 2016. 2017), was 3-1 with a 2.27 GAA and .910 save percentage in the 2020 postseason.
NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika contributed to this report
