Can Hill be the goaltender the Golden Knights need him to be?

LAS VEGAS — It was only a couple minutes into the game and the Golden Knights appeared to be in trouble as the Edmonton Oilers were looking for an early goal coming off a 2-on-1 shorthanded opportunity.


And with Adin Hill in the Vegas net, the chances were pretty good the Oilers would take an early 1-0 lead. Or at least the Adin Hill we’ve been seeing most of this season.

But Hill came up with the big stop, denying Jason Dickinson and keeping the game scoreless. It was the kind of big save he produced when he was in the crease during the Knights’ Stanley Cup run in 2023 and at times since then when he has managed to stay healthy and in a groove.

Yeah, I know, it’s one save. What’s the big deal?

You have to start somewhere if you’re going to get your mojo late in the NHL season and why not start with your goaltender? Hill missed more than three months with a lower body injury, was not on Canada’s Olympic roster and has slowly tried to regain his game.

We saw signs of life just before the Olympic break in a win against Los Angeles. There was more of the same Wednesday in Detroit as he was strong in the middle and late stages in what would eventually be a 4-3 overtime win over the Red Wings. It appeared he built off that performance Sunday at T-Mobile Arena against Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the rest of the Oilers. At least for a while.

Hill stopped 15 of the 18 shots he faced and was saved by the post on three separate occasions. But the Oilers hung three on him as he was victimized by odd-man rushes and a failure by his defense to clear loose pucks or pick up open Edmonton forwards as the Knights fell 4-2. Vegas’ overall struggles continue as they’ve dropped five of their last six and have fallen out of first place in the Pacific Division.

“Just try and take each game at a time," Hill said following the break before the season resumed on Feb. 25. “And I think kind of the goal there is — obviously, having that last performance for the break was nice — but just keep building off that. And as a group, we want to keep building each game, taking it one game at a time."

And while many fans were hoping (praying?) Kelly McCrimmon would move him Friday at the NHL trade deadline, No. 33 stayed put. Were teams willing to pick up his contract, which runs through 2031 at an average annual value of $6.25 million? Apparently not.

Yes, his numbers this year have not been good. The .860 save percentage. The 3.42 goals against average. But realistically, McCrimmon didn’t have the capital available to acquire a Jordan Binnington or a Sergei Bobrovsky. He defended his goaltending when he met with the media before Friday’s 4-2 loss to Minnesota. He said he has confidence in Hill and Akira Schmid. Of course, what would you expect him to say?

But Hill has to chance to change the narrative and justify the faith GMKM has in him. Play well. Make the big save when asked to. Keep his team in the game until they find their way. Steal one when necessary. That’s his task going forward. Be the goaltender the Knights need him to be.

“You always expect the best out of yourself, right?" Hill said. “So when things aren’t going your way, or things are not panning out the way you feel like they should … you feel good, and a few pucks get by or whatever, it’s tough. I was really kind of disappointed in myself, and trying to work through it.

“So that’s just kind of the thing, come to the rink every day with a positive attitude and on to the next game. We got a lot more here. So just trying to build more of those performances.”

The Knights remain without their captain, Mark Stone, who missed his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury. Perhaps he returns this week from his stint on injured reserve. They need him. They got Brett Howden back Sunday after Howden missed 20 games with a lower body injury. They need him too.

Still, this team will not be whole the rest of the way. The roster McCrimmon constructed over the summer that Bruce Cassidy expected to coach hasn’t existed for virtually the entire season.

There’s 18 games remaining. The Knights’ playoff position is still tenable. They have 72 points, one behind first-place Anaheim. But Edmonton is right behind, just two points back. There’s no more trades to be made. This is the lineup they’ve got. They acquired Nic Dowd and Cole Smith earlier in the week as depth pieces up front. They traded for Rasmus Andersson back in mid-January and it looks like he’s still trying to find his comfort level here. Whoever Cassidy puts down on the lineup card needs to produce. If you’re not scoring, your job is to shut the other team down and prevent it from doing so.

And if you’re Adin Hill, you need to keep your team in the game every night. Perhaps we’re starting to see that from him, late as it may be.