Lehner to Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a lower-body injury.

The Vegas Golden Knights must now face their uphill battle for a playoff spot without their top goaltender. 

Robin Lehner will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a lower-body injury, the team confirmed Monday. 

Lehner apparently suffered the injury during the Golden Knights' meeting with the Philadelphia Flyers on March 8th, missing the next 12 games before returning and attempting to play through it. The results, however, were not what Lehner had hoped, with the 30-year-old struggling upon return to the tune of an uncharacteristic .892 save percentage in six games. 

The decision to undergo this procedure will now end Lehner's season at just 44 appearances, thrusting Vegas' playoff hopes into even deeper despair. 

Lehner's injury-plagued 2021-22 followed a similar course to most of the Golden Knights' other stars. This season alone, Vegas has lost the likes of Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone, Reilly Smith, Nicolas Hague, Brett Howden, Zach Whitecloud, Alec Martinez, and Nolan Patrick for extended periods of time, watching their otherwise contention-worthy roster be gutted by injuries. 

Factor in the team's acquisition of Jack Eichel, who missed the first five months of the season after undergoing a serious neck procedure upon arriving in Vegas, and the Golden Knights have seemingly never had their entire slate of star players in the lineup all at one time. 

The team's playoff hopes weren't in their hands to begin with. Now, even if they make the playoffs, the road looks ugly.