Golden Knights Postgame: Bill is Back, Robin Lehner Says No To Olympics

The Vegas Golden Knights (14-10) defeated the Calgary Flames (15-5-5) in a thrilling 3-2 game Sunday night. With William Karlsson now back in the lineup the team is almost back to 100% as Jack Eichel, Alec Martinez, and Nolan Patrick are the only players that remain out.

Karlsson missed 15 games, the most in his career with the Golden Knights, with a broken foot as well as COVID-19 protocols. But the “misfit line” of Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, and Reilly Smith did not skip a beat and instantly found their chemistry.

“I felt pretty good I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel but overall I felt pretty good,” said Karlsson.

With Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer now having a gifted center in Karlsson available, it gives him a lot more options with his lineup. Not only that but it allows for players to play in the roles that they are meant to play in. William Carrier for instance is no longer a bandage top-six winger and can thrive in the bottom-six where he is meant to play.

“I think that’s what we envisioned when we started the season to have that type of depth where the third and fourth lines could really make a difference in the game and tilt the ice,” said DeBoer.

The Golden Knight’s new third-line of Nicolas Roy, Mattias Janmark, and Evgenii Dadonov scored twice Sunday night’s game. Roy, who was the team’s temporary second-line center is now embracing his role as the team’s third-line center moving forward. He has three points in his last two games.

“Those two guys over there (Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault) have really helped me create some plays and also feel good about my offensive game. Now that I’m playing with Daddy (Evgeni Dadonov) and Janny (Mattias Janmark) two other great players, we are creating some offense and I think we are hard to play against as well,” said Nicolas Roy.

Robin Lehner stopped 24 of 26 shots against Jakob Markstrom and the Calgary Flames. Markstrom and Lehner have been speculated to be the goaltending duo for Team Sweden at the 2022 Winter Olympics. However, Lehner stated that he will not be participating in the Olympics and turned down the offer due to health reasons.

“I actually turned down going to the Olympics for health reasons. Me and my psychiatrist decided along with my agent that I am not going to go and I wish them all the best,” said Lehner.

Great performance tonight from our team. Have to address I will not go to the olympics. I’m very disappointed and it tough decision for me as it’s once in life time opportunity. Reality is that what have been said about how it’s going to be is not ideal for my mental health.

— Robin Lehner (@RobinLehner) December 6, 2021

Team Sweden will have to look to other goaltenders such as Linus Ullmark, Jonas Johansson, or Filip Gustavsson to back up Markstrom at the Olympics.

The Golden Knights will be off for two days and will then take on the Dallas Stars Wednesday night at home at 7:00 pm. Vegas Hockey Now has a special exclusive interview in the works soon to pass the time!