Golden Knights Wrap: Playoff Odds and an Updates on Robin Lehner

A lot of confusion arose Friday as ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported that Robin Lehner would miss the remainder of the season for the Vegas Golden Knights with a knee injury.

Just a few hours later this news was shut down by Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer who said that Lehner was just having a maintenance day. Lehner, who has missed the last two practices is not having surgery, despite these reports.

Lehner has struggled since coming back from a month-long injury that is reportedly to his knee. With Lehner struggling, Logan Thompson has come in and been great for the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Golden Knights went as far as to release an official statement on Lehner Saturday which gives us no additional information. It looks like he will remain in the lineup for the remaining four games.

Elsewhere in the NHL, there were four games of relevance to the Golden Knights on Saturday. Half of them went the Golden Knight’s way. The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Nashville Predators and the Vancouver Canucks’ playoff hopes are likely over after another loss.

However the Los Angeles Kings won another game against the Anaheim Ducks, and the Dallas Stars defeated the Seattle Kraken. The Stars’ next game will be Tuesday against the Golden Knights and it may very well end up sealing the fate of both teams’ seasons.

A question to ask: If the Golden Knights make it into the Stanley Cup Playoffs will it even be worth it?

Here are the updated numbers. A Wild Card spot is still possible for the Golden Knights but they will have to win Sunday night against the San Jose Sharks for it to remain this way.

UPDATED WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF PICTURE

Calgary Flames (Clinched)

Current Place- 1st in the Pacific Division with 108 points

Games Remaining- 3 games (6 potential points/114 max points)

Tiebreaker- 47 ROW

Final Schedule- NSH, MIN, WPG

Current First Round Opponent- Nashville Predators

Edmonton Oilers (Clinched)

Current Place- 2nd in the Pacific Division with 98 points.

Games Remaining- 4 games (8 potential points/106 max points)

Tiebreaker- 42 ROW

Final Schedule- CBJ, PIT, SJS, VAN

Current First Round Opponent- Los Angeles Kings

Los Angeles Kings

Current Place- 3rd in the Pacific Division with 96 points

Games Remaining- 2 games (4 potential points/100 max points)

Tiebreaker- 39 ROW

Final Schedule- SEA, VAN

Current First Round Opponent- Edmonton Oilers

Nashville Predators

Current Place- 1st Wild Card Spot with 93 points

Games Remaining- 4 games (8 potential points/101 max points)

Tiebreaker- 41 ROW

Final Schedule- MIN, CGY, COL, ARZ

Current First Round Opponent- Calgary Flames

Dallas Stars

Current Place- 2nd Wild Card Spot with 93 points

Games Remaining- 3 games (6 potential points/99 max points)

Tiebreaker- 40 ROW

Final Schedule- VGK, ARZ, ANA

Current First Round Opponent- Colorado Avalanche

Vegas Golden Knights

Current Place- Out of a playoff spot with 89 points

Games Remaining- 4 games (8 potential points/97 max points)

Tiebreaker- 38 ROW

Final Schedule- SJS, DAL, CHI, STL

Playoff Odds: Hockey Reference: 15.2%, MoneyPuck 26.5%

Vancouver Canucks

Current Place- Out of a playoff spot with 87 points

Games Remaining- 3 games (6 potential points/93 max points)

Tiebreaker- 35 ROW

Final Schedule- SEA, LAK, EDM

Relevant Games on Sunday: EDM/CBJ 10:00 am, NSH/MIN 5:00, SJS/VGK 7:00

Clip of the Day: The Kings’ win didn’t exactly come easy as Jonathan Quick had a big oopsie Saturday.

NHL News, Playoff Positioning Updates, and National Hockey Now

Arizona: The Arizona Coyotes should be ashamed of themselves for the asking price for tickets to see them play in a college arena that seats just 5,000 next season.

Colorado: As the Colorado Avalanche get set for the postseason, Pavel Francouz has taken a puck to the face and Justus Annunen has been recalled from the Colorado Eagles as backup.

Florida: Ben Chiarot settling in very nicely with the Florida Panthers and Gus Forsling is also impressing.

Philly: Carter Hart, Cam Atkinson, and Rasmus Ristolainen will be out for the rest of the season for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Washington: What does the Washington Capitals goaltending look like heading into the playoffs?