Golden Knights G Brossoit exits Game 3 win in first period

EDMONTON, Alberta — The Vegas Golden Knights lost starting goaltender Laurent Brossoit to injury during a 5-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of the Western Conference second-round series Monday night.

Brossoit, 30, left with 8:16 left in the first period. The veteran stopped a shot from Oilers forward Connor McDavid and was pushing cross-crease to defend against a rebound opportunity when he suddenly crumbled to the ice in pain. It took several minutes for Brossoit to unsuccessfully attempt to get up on his own, and it took a pair of teammates to eventually help him off. Brossoit gingerly walked down the hallway separating the Vegas bench from its locker room.

ESPN’s Leah Hextall reported — during the game broadcast — that Brossoit was having his left leg looked at by trainers in that hallway just seconds after leaving the ice. But Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy had no update on Brossoit following the Golden Knights’ victory, which gave them a 2-1 series lead.

Adin Hill took over for the Golden Knights in net. Hill, Vegas’ primary backup netminder, just made his NHL postseason debut last week when he replaced Brossoit in Game 2, a 5-1 Edmonton rout that evened the best-of-seven series, 1-1, on Saturday night.

Jonathan Quick, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Los Angeles Kings, was the Golden Knights’ third goaltender and took over on the bench as Vegas’ backup for the remainder of the win. Typically, the No. 3 goalie sits up in the press box, but Quick, as Hextall reported on the broadcast, was working out at ice level during the first period and was quickly able to get his equipment on and join his teammates.

Vegas has had to use multiple starters this season due to various injury problems. At one point, the Golden Knights won four consecutive games with four different goalies.

Brossoit started the season while still recovering from summer hip surgery. He cleared waivers, went to play in the American Hockey League and then was promoted back to the NHL — only to suffer a lower-body injury in February. That limited him to just 11 regular-season appearances.

Brossoit eventually became Vegas’ No. 1 again, finishing the regular season with a 10-7-0 mark and a .927 save percentage to go along with a 2.17 goals-against average. He then backstopped the Golden Knights to a first-round series win over the Winnipeg Jets and a 6-4 victory in Game 1 over Edmonton before being pulled after the second period of Game 2 for allowing five goals on 32 shots. He is 5-2 in the postseason with a 3.13 average and an .896 percentage.

Hill, 16-7-1 in the regular season with a .915 percentage and a 2.45 average, stood tall against an Oilers offense that had been firing on all cylinders in Game 2. And he was thankful to have seen some action Saturday because he hadn’t seen a lot of pucks since mid-March. He finished Monday’s win with 25 saves.

“We knew he was going to be ready,” Vegas forward Nicolas Roy said of Hill. “It was a big challenge for him. He was awesome. It’s really nice to have confidence in all our goalies.”

The series has been goal-heavy from the start. Vegas took Game 1, 6-4, and Edmonton posted a 5-1 victory in Game 2. Game 3 fell in line with that, though it was the Golden Knights who dominated throughout.

Game 4 is Wednesday.

“Not much to like about that game tonight,” McDavid, the Edmonton captain, said. “But our game is not gone. Forty-eight hours ago, we played very well. We need to bring that in Game 4.”