Deboer: Fleury needed some R&R
Dansk starts in goal vs. Sharks; Lehner remains out with injury
Marc-andre Fleury needed a breather. Golden Knights coach Pete Deboer knew it, too.
The goaltender finally got a break Friday with Oscar Dansk starting the opener of a back to back against San Jose.
Fleury made 10 consecutive starts, and Deboer admitted following the morning skate that his heavy workload has not been optimal. He complimented how the 36-yearold has held up physically.
Fleury is second in the league in goals-against average (1.71) and save percentage (.939) among goalies with at least five appearances.
“But we are getting to a point where we’ve got to look at managing that or I think we’d be risking either play dropping off or injury,” Deboer said. “We’re getting into that zone now.”
Robin Lehner hasn’t played since Feb. 7 because of an upper-body injury. Deboer noted that Lehner wasn’t with the Knights for the “beginning of this trip” and he was placed on longterm injured reserve prior to Friday’s game, according to Capfriendly. com. The move is retroactive to Feb. 11.
“I think there’s talk about him being very close to reintegrating in with the group,” Deboer said. “That’s the best I can tell you on him.”
Dansk owned a 3-1 record in his NHL career before Friday, with all of his victories coming during the Knights’ inaugural season. He made one appearance last season and was knocked around in a 6-2 loss at Philadelphia.
“As far as (Fleury) and Dansk goes, we’re going to have to look at all options to make sure that we’re doing the right thing for the team and for all the individual players,” Deboer said after the morning skate.
Mcnabb travels
Defenseman Brayden Mcnabb participated in the morning skate and is nearing a return from the lower-body injury he sustained Jan. 26 against St. Louis.
“Getting very close to reintegrating with the group,” Deboer said.
Mcnabb is eligible to come off long-term injured reserve at any time. Deboer expects to dip into the taxi squad during the next week to keep his skaters fresh.
Defenseman Nick Holden made his first appearance since Feb. 20 and skated on the top pair with Alex Pietrangelo. Nicolas Roy also returned to the lineup against the Sharks after being a healthy scratch the past two games.
The Knights play six games in the next nine days starting Friday.
“I just think you’re asking players to do the impossible by showing up every night with the type of energy we need to expend to play the way we want to play without rotating fresh people in and out of those spots,” Deboer said.