Vegas Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner wants you to know that he’s always watching.
The 29-year-old goaltender is an active Twitter user who frequently interacts with fans and haters, and used his online hate to hype himself up before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup semifinals.
“Not many people know,” Lehner said after the overtime victory. “I come to the game four hours early. I get my own bus. I sat for two hours and watched you guys talk shit on Twitter to get me motivated. It was great to see what you had to say. I don’t care what people think.”
In 2018, Lehner opened up about his battles with mental illness, the start of a journey that helped him get his life back on track and become an NHL fan favorite.
This season, Lehner battled injuries and lost his job as a starter.
“It has been a weird season with concussions and my surgery,” Lehner said. “I have been battling hard to be a good teammate and be as good as possible. Before this season, since I got out of rehab, I have been putting up some pretty good numbers and people act like I am not very good.”
Marc-Andre Fleury was the starting goalie for the Golden Knights in 2021, earning his first Vezina Trophy nomination. He continued to excel in the first two rounds of the postseason, advancing past the Wild and the Avalanche with a .921 save percentage and 1.97 goals-against average.
But things got dicey in the semifinals. After the Golden Knights lost Game 2 to the Canadiens, and after Fleury misplayed the puck late in another defeat in Game 3, head coach Peter DeBoer opted for a switch.
In his second appearance in 42 days, Lehner took over and proved his bench boss right, gutting out an overtime victory to even the series. Twitter was a big reason why.
“It is great motivation for me,” Lehner said. “It was very enjoyable on Twitter today. Thank you guys very much for giving me that motivation.”
The Canadiens dominated Game 4, outshooting Vegas 28-21, but Lehner kept his team in the game. Without him, the Golden Knights would have been in trouble.
“We’re on a Stanley Cup journey with a great team, a great organization and great guys,” Lehner said. “It doesn’t matter for me, truly in my heart, I don’t care if I’m on the bench or in net. I’ll do the best I can for the team.
“That’s what people don’t understand – it’s a team game. I couldn’t care less. [Fleury] has been absolutely outstanding. He’s the reason why we’re here with a lot of the other guys. When you get a chance to come in and help, it’s great. You just do what you can for the team whatever position you’re in. And that’s what it’s about.”