Blackhawks' Lehner leads NHL in save percentage ... and disdain for shootouts
If we've learned one thing about Blackhawks goalie Robin Lehner — who leads the league with a .938 save percentage — it's that he isn't afraid to speak his mind.
And he proved that again after practice Monday during a 10-minute interview session with reporters who gathered to ask him about a series of Sunday tweets.
Annoyed by the negative coverage the Hawks received after a 2-1 shootout loss Saturday in Dallas, Lehner started his thread at 4:30 p.m. Sunday with this:
“All the experts in the media on what my new shootout strategy should be: I'm all ears. The shootout is not hockey so I gotta learn this sport somehow and hopefully one of the experts can help me as all my goalie coaches haven't been able to yet. Sabres fans would love to hear.”
As of Monday afternoon, Lehner's thread had received nearly 1,000 responses, many of which were simply encouraging him. One from Harvard, however, definitely piqued his interest.
“I looked — that was interesting,” Lehner said.
Lehner's extreme honesty in interviews is refreshing and he showed it early this season when discussing his disdain for shootouts. Since the start of the 2013-14 season, Lehner's shootout save percentage of .521 ranks 76th out of 80 goalies who have faced at least 20 attempts.
He's 1-for-5 this season and failed to stop either of Dallas' shots Saturday.
Before the shootout against the Stars began, play-by-play announcer Pat Foley suggested that perhaps the Hawks should insert Corey Crawford in net. Broadcast partner Eddie Olczyk quickly shot that down, but Lehner said he would be open to the idea.
“I just want to win, man,” Lehner said. “I came here to help this team win. If I'm on the bench or on the ice, I just want us to make the playoffs. That's why I signed here.
“So if the coach feels that, he should definitely go for it. I definitely would not be mad.”
Coach Jeremy Colliton said the coaching staff hasn't talked about making such a move. He added it would be a “difficult situation” to pull the starter and insert a backup who hadn't faced a shot all night.
Like he said earlier this season, Lehner reiterated that his strength lies in his ability to read a play and to stop breakaways or odd-man rushes. But when a single shooter can approach from any angle and is able to slow down to pick his spot, Lehner just has a much more difficult time stopping the puck.
“They come in slow motion and they can do both,” Lehner said. “Then I'm 50-50 instead of set doing one thing.
“(On the) breakaway, I know by the hash marks if he's shooting or if he's deking. You can see the back pressure, you can see how fast he's coming, you can see how he has his stick. You know what's going to happen.
“You can't in a shootout. ... I can't read it. It takes away the best part of me as a goalie, and that's just how it is.
“So if someone else has to go in there and do it, go ahead. It's only about winning.”
Lehner's Twitter account has 44,800 followers and he is following 287 people. He had sent out just a dozen tweets since the start of the regular season, one of which was a video of Hawks forward Alex Nylander playing with his two kids. It has more than 400,000 views.
As for reacting to what is in the media, Lehner said he can brush some of it off.
But some of it clearly gets under his skin.
“Most of us are active on social media; most of us sees what you guys are saying,” said Lehner, who stopped 40 of 41 shots against the Stars. “It's a constant buzz. You can shield yourself to a point from it. That's fine. I don't really care about it.
“But when you try to perform and try to make a living for your family and stuff. ... You put up good up good performances and good numbers; I think my career save percentage is Top 10 throughout league history.
“And still, you get (dumped) on. It's how it is.
“And part of it is shootouts. I know it's a big factor to it. I went through stretches in Buffalo (where) I was 96 to 98 percent over three, four, five, six games and we didn't win. And maybe two losses in the shootout, and all of a sudden I was the worst person in the world.
“ ... Because of the shootout.”
He later added these thoughts on the loss in Dallas: “We played a great game against one of the better teams. We lost in the lottery. And then it turns all negative. We believe in each other in here. Just wanted to see what all the good guys have to say.”
By the numbers
Top 5 save percentages in shootouts since 2013-14:
Player SA G SV Sv%
1. A. Vasilevskiy 57 8 49 .860
2. L. Domingue 32 5 27 .844
3. J. Enroth 32 5 27 .844
4. A. Khudobin 59 11 48 .814
5. J. Gustavsson 30 6 24 .800
Bottom 5 save percentages:
76. Al Montoya 34 16 18 .529
77. R. Lehner 94 45 49 .521
78. N. Backstrom 27 13 14 .519
79. M. Brodeur 27 14 13 .481
80. Ilya Bryzgalov 23 12 11 .478
SA: Shots against; G: Goals: SV: Saves; Sv%: Save percentage
SOURCE: NHL
Highmore called up:
Forward Matthew Highmore was recalled Monday from the Rockford IceHogs. Highmore, 23, notched 4 goals and 6 assists in 17 games with the IceHogs this season. The Halifax, Nova Scotia, native has played in 13 career NHL games and has two goals, all in the 2017-18 season.