Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill ended the second longest winning streak in NHL history on Tuesday night, and in doing so he proved why he belongs in the conversation of the league's elite goalies.
Hill's 30-save performance at home in Vegas last night halted the Edmonton Oilers' winning streak at 16 games in a 3-1 victory that gave the Golden Knights six wins in their last eight times out.
"I know that they're hot over there and they had won however many in a row, but I was more focused on just playing our game tonight and trying to get two points," Hill told the media after the game.
Despite Edmonton's streak, Vegas remains seven points ahead of the Oilers in the Pacific Division standings (though Edmonton has five games in hand), a testament to how strong the Knights have been this year.
Hill was out for a while due to an injury, but since his return he has proven to be the type of legitimate number one goalie with the ability to steal points and wins that proves so valuable come April, May, and June.
Adin Hill: Vegas' New Franchise Goalie
It's always interesting how teams find ways to come across high-end goaltending. For Vegas, all it cost to acquire Hill was a 2024 fourth round pick sent to San Jose back in 2022.
The Knights may have thought they were just adding depth in the crease when they added the six-foot-six netminder who got his start in Arizona, but they've found a lot more.
With the caveat that he missed time with an injury, Hill has a stranglehold on the NHL leaderboard for goaltending stats. His 1.88 goals against average is 0.34 goals per game clear of second place, and his frankly obscene .938 save percentage is far ahead of Connor Hellebuyck's .923.
While the sample size this year is fairly small, there were always signs that Hill had the potential to be more than a high-end backup.
After a shaky first two seasons in Arizona, Hill was very strong from 2019 to 2021 in the desert, and he was passable on the Sharks two seasons ago.
His size and traits make him the type of goaltender that can thrive in a good environment with steady defensive play in front of him, and he never had that consistently until he got to Vegas.
He made good on all of that potential last year, when he took the net in the playoffs after splitting time with Laurent Brossoit, and delivered a .932 save percentage over 14 postseason starts to earn the Stanley Cup.
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Golden Knights Goaltending History
The Golden Knights played their first contest in 2017, and in just those seven years they have already racked up an interesting track record in the blue paint.
Marc-Andre Fleury was the team's selection in their expansion draft from Pittsburgh, and he quickly became the face of the franchise only to be unceremoniously traded to Chicago in a salary dump five years later coming off of one of the best seasons of his career.
Of course, many recall that before he led the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season, he and multiple backups got injured at the same time, resulting in Vegas relying on an emergency call-up from juniors to get by for a bit.
In 2019-2020, Vegas acquired Robin Lehner to form an elite one-two tandem with Fleury. The move wound up foreshadowing Fleury's eventual exit, and Lehner appeared in only 66 games as a Golden Knight before having to step aside.
The departures of Fleury and Lehner left Vegas without both of their previous franchise goaltenders entering last season.
Then, Logan Thompson and Hill took over last season, winning the division before Hill helped backstop the team to the Cup in the playoffs.
It's been a long road in just seven years with a lot of names, but Vegas fans hope Hill can provide both stability and the success he's shown early in his tenure with the team over the long haul.
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