It has not exactly been the best start to the season for Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill.
Through his first ten appearances of the 2024-2025 campaign, Hill is allowing an average of 3.41 goals per game—the worst since his rookie season with Arizona in 2017-2018. He also has a save percentage of just .875—by far the worst of his NHL career to date.
On Monday night against Carolina, Hill struggled yet again. He allowed four goals on just 21 shots, and was pulled less than halfway through the second period of a 5-2 loss—Vegas’s first home defeat of the season.
Despite Hill’s struggles, however, Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy continues to express confidence in the goaltender.
“I wouldn’t put it on [Adin Hill],” Cassidy said of the loss. “I didn’t like the first goal a lot, that’s one. But you know, he made a great save on the second goal.
“The third goal . . . I don’t know if there’s any goalie who’s stopping that one. Fourth one hits their guy in the way, so they got a fortunate bounce.”
With Vegas trailing 4-0 in the second period, Cassidy turned to Akira Schmid in net. Schmid did not allow a goal over the game’s final 30-plus minutes, with Carolina’s final tally coming against an empty net.
“At the end of the day, it was a split-second decision to get [Schmid] in,” Cassidy said. “I’m not putting any of the game on Hilly, it’s just more about changing the momentum.
“I thought Schmidy did a good job for us.”
With Hill’s primary backup Ilya Samsonov still dealing with an injury, Cassidy said Hill will see the majority of action in net this week, with Schmid potentially getting in as well.
The Golden Knights visit the Anaheim Ducks Wednesday night.
