While the Stanley Cup could be hoisted as soon as Tuesday, after the Vegas Golden Knights came within a win of the title, the brainstorming will inevitably begin to pick a winner for the Conn-Smythe Trophy.
If the Knights prevail, Jonathan Marchessault will be impossible to ignore. He’s the league’s leading scorer in the playoffs, and his 13 goals put him close to the 25-year high for a single spring (15). We will also look, logically, to his center player Jack Eichel as well as to captain Mark Stone, superb in the final.
But in light of another splendid performance, can we really turn our noses up at Adin Hill? In his team’s 3-2 victory on Saturday, he was not perfect, but close.
If it had been soccer, the Panthers’ first goal would have been scored “own” after the puck deflected off two Vegas players and landed in the back of the net.
On the second goal, Hill’s long lateral move might have looked a bit sluggish, but perfection, Aleksander Barkov served it to him with a shot just inside the post.
For the rest, the goalkeeper gave nothing, and above all seemed perfectly in control of the situation – once again, one could say. He multiplied the stops while the opposing attackers were very close to him, even on him. In the final minutes of the third period, when the players in red monopolized control of the disc and the center players in white were unable to win a face-off, Hill kept watch.
The question, then: why not Adin Hill for the Conn-Smythe? If it weren’t for his number of games played – only 15 so far – he would certainly be among the favorite candidates.
The 27-year-old goaltender, remember, was Laurent Brossoit’s auxiliary when the playoffs began. The latter was injured very early in the second game against the Edmonton Oilers, in the second round. Hill answered the call and has since become known to all NHL hockey fans.
The veteran was not exactly a stranger, however. He had just had a nice campaign in Vegas, his first in the desert. But without Logan Thompson’s major injury this season and Brossoit’s in the playoffs, we wouldn’t be talking about him.
Stéphane Waite, former goaltending coach with the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Blackhawks, recently said in the prestigious podcast Exit Zone that the injury suffered by the very wobbly Brossoit looked like a gift for the Knights. Harsh words, but fair.
After 15 playoff games, Hill has a .934 save percentage and a 2.11 goals-against average. If those numbers remained unchanged and the Knights won the Stanley Cup, Hill would be fourth and ninth respectively in those two statistical categories among goaltenders on a champion team since the 2004-05 lockout. Ahead of him, in terms of efficiency rate, Jonathan Quick (.946 in 2012), Tim Thomas (.940 in 2011) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (.937 in 2021) all received the Conn-Smythe.
Note, if we judge the late starts, we could also talk about that of Marchessault who, after seven games, had collected only two points, including no goals. But what followed was striking: 22 points in 14 games.
Whether one or the other is named the series’ MVP – the Knights still have to win! – the story will be similar. It will be that of a late bloomer, who ate his black bread in the minor circuits before touching the big league and who was abandoned by two or three teams to better explode elsewhere.
Last March, in an interview with some members of the Montreal media, Marchessault spoke about the many gamers of the Golden Knights. These players who stand out on big occasions. He had notably cited his teammate Reilly Smith as an example.
It is clear that his name comes very high in the list of gamers in this locker room. Next to that of Adin Hill, certainly.
He reacted well after an ordinary Game 3. He scored his side’s first two goals, bringing his tally to 10 in 21 games in this postseason.
His ice time is melting away – not even 10 minutes this time. Barely two appearances in the third period. This career plumber seems to have reached the end of his resources on an attacking trio.
No less than 57 penalties had been imposed in the first three games of the series. However, the referees had raised their arms only twice on Saturday, before the rififi caused some sanctions at the final whistle.
