Knights: Coach deflects Fleury of questions about goaltending
Gerard Gallant isn’t fixated on the number of goals Marc-Andre Fleury has given up lately.
The Vegas Golden Knights goaltender stopped 22 shots in a 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets in Game 1 of the NHL Western Conference final Saturday, but it was the fifth time in the last six games he’s allowed three or more goals to get past him.
“Yeah, he’s awful,” coach Gallant joked about the veteran goalie.
“You watched the goals. You seen the game. Deflection goals. Big shot by (Dustin) Byfuglien. He’s played real good hockey for us. He’s the best goalie in the playoffs as far as I’m concerned.”
Fleury entered the series with four shutouts in the team’s 10 playoff games against Los Angeles and San Jose, and sported a .951 save percentage and 1.53 goals against average.
The Golden Knights had dispatched the Sharks in round two last Sunday with a 3-0 shutout, but the roles were reversed against the Jets.
Winnipeg mounted a 3-0 lead by 7:35 of the first period.
Byfuglien’s fifth of the season started it off 65 seconds into the period when Mark Scheifele dropped a pass back to him and he sent a one-timer blast past Fleury.
Patrik Laine’s power-play goal on a precision pass from Blake Wheeler upped it to 2-0. Joel Armia had a goal count after a Winnipeg coach’s challenge of goaltender inference was successful.
The puck went off Armia’s skate and was ruled heading into the net before he bumped into Fleury.
“I think the first one I would like to see again, for sure,” Fleury said of the Byfuglien goal. “The one that was reviewed, it was questionable, but that’s their decision. The other one was a power-play goal so just put it behind and forget about it and move on.”
Byfuglien leads the league’s defencemen with 15 points and five multi-point games in the playoffs.
Fleury acknowledged the Jets bring a style his club hasn’t faced in the first two rounds.
“I think the other two series, (the teams) rely a lot on ... shots from the (defence), putting pucks on nets and crashing the net and stuff,” he said. “This team I think can create a little more.”