It was easy to be somewhat puzzled when Logan Thompson was skating out as the Game 1 starter for the Vegas Golden Knights in this spring’s playoffs. After all, Adin Hill was the one backstopping Vegas to the Stanley Cup title last spring.
Any doubts that they’d made the corect choice likely were subsiding as the Golden Knights were racing to a 2-0 opening-round series lead with consecutive wins at Dallas. And even as the Stars were getting on the board with a 3-2 overtime verdict in Game 3, it wasn’t like the naysayers were given an avenue to say ‘I told you so.’
A lot of Golden Knights players were sharing in the blame for Saturday’s home-ice failure. Thompson, though, wasn’t one of them.
In fact, he was sending chills of fear and doubt up the spines of the Dallas players.
“Thompson was incredible, but we kept telling each other to keep challenging him,” said Dallas forward Wyatt Johnson, scorer of the Gam3 overtime winner. “At some point a puck goes in and that’s it.”
Thompson Delivering Goods For Golden Knights
A chance to be winning every game night. That’s all a team is seeking from their goaltender. Thompson is doing that and then some.
Dallas held a 33-17 edge on the shot clock through two periods, but the scoreboard read 2-2. Thompson’s 43 saves were equaling a career high and matching the club single-game playoff record.
“The first half of the game, I don’t know how many odd-man rushes it was, but Logan kept us in the game,” Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “They took it to us.
“We had no business being in that game. LT stood on his head, saved us and allowed us to have a chance.”
Through three playoff games – the first postseason action of his NHL career – Thompson is showing a .927 save percentage and a 2.14 GAA.
“He’s the only reason we still had a chance halfway through the game,” Golden Knights captain Mark Stone said of Thompson’s Game 3 performance. Probably could’ve been five or six nothing.”
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