Knight after stellar Blackhawks debut: I'm here to build a Cup winner
Spencer Knight has his eyes on the prize after nearly shutting out the Los Angeles Kings in his debut with the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night.
The newly acquired goaltender turned aside all but one of 42 shots in a 5-1 victory after arriving from the Florida Panthers in the Seth Jones trade on Saturday night. Knight, who turns 24 on April 19, was stuck behind Sergei Bobrovsky and others on his former team's depth chart and spent time in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in 2023.
"I've been through a lot of difficult challenges in my life," he said postgame Monday. "This is another step in the journey. I think I'm looking to bring what I witnessed and was a part of in Florida, and bring that here."
"Because I said I don't care if we're in first place or last place or anywhere in between, we come to the rink and play to win every night," he continued. "That's my motto, at least, going forward. I'm here to build a championship-winning team whether that's a year, two years, five, I don't know. But that's what we're working toward."
Knight missed the last two months of 2022-23 while in the program and then spent all of 2023-24 in the AHL. However, he established himself as Bobrovsky's backup this season, going 12-8-1 with a .907 save percentage across 23 contests before the trade.
The Panthers' 13th overall pick in 2019 relished getting to play at Chicago's United Center as a member of the home team Monday night.
"Awesome. I don't know what else to say, it's just awesome," he said. "I played in here with the Panthers. It's cool (when) it's (an) away rink. But playing here (as a Blackhawk), that's pretty sick."
Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy praised Knight for his performance despite little support from those in front of the puck-stopper.
"It was a good thing that he was warm going into that game because that start, we gave (up) 2-on-0s, backdoor plays, and everything, and he stood tall," Murphy said. "You could tell he's really determined, and it's not easy to be that focused in a new environment."
Knight joins a Chicago goaltending tandem that includes 25-year-old Arvid Soderblom and 33-year-old Petr Mrazek. The Blackhawks enter Tuesday ranked third-last in the NHL with 3.48 goals against per game. They have the second-worst points percentage in the league at .369 along with a 19-35-7 record.