Fleury back after false positive
Goalie isolated in hotel room before cleared
Marc-andre Fleury endured a stressful 24 hours but was cleared from the NHL’S COVID protocol-related absence in time to start for the Golden Knights on Friday against the St. Louis Blues.
The goaltender had a false positive test for COVID-19, the organization announced.
“I didn’t get out of my room till it was maybe 12 or 1 o’clock today,” Fleury said after the Knights’ 5-4 overtime victory at Enterprise Center in St. Louis. “It was nice to be free and go walk outside a bit, get around a bit and have lunch with a few guys. It was definitely stressful but very happy that it came out negative.”
Fleury, who made 19 saves Friday night, said he was notified of his positive test Thursday morning and was included on the NHL’S COVID protocol-related absences list that afternoon.
According to Fleury, he had two more COVID tests done Thursday and two more Friday before he was cleared. He was able to watch video from Wednesday’s game against Minnesota and also scouted the Blues while isolating in his hotel room.
“I had some high hopes that test would be a false positive. I tried to stay ready,” Fleury said. “When I was able to get out of there I had time to do a little bit of exercise early this afternoon and get ready for tonight.”
Logan Thompson, who made his NHL debut in relief of Fleury on Wednesday, served as the backup against St. Louis. Dylan Ferguson is the team’s taxi squad goalie.
Robin Lehner remains with the Silver Knights on a conditioning loan and is not an option for the back-toback games.
The hectic situation was reminiscent of the Knights’ inaugural season when they used five goaltenders in the opening 17 games.
“Right up until we got I believe it was his third negative test, which would have been early this afternoon, we had to have a plan to start somebody else,” coach Pete Deboer said. “He has a pregame ritual. … He wasn’t able to do any of that stuff. I thought he battled really hard and I’m sure he’ll feel more comfortable (Saturday).”
Schedule update
The Knights’ game against San Jose was rescheduled for 6 p.m. April 23 at San Jose after being postponed Feb. 25.
The rivals will play three straight games from April 19 to 23, with the first two taking place at T-mobile Arena.
The game against Anaheim that was originally scheduled for April 23 was moved to April 24. That means the Knights have five games in seven days from April 18 to 24.
Carrier out
Winger William Carrier missed his first game of the season Wednesday at Minnesota, and Deboer confirmed it was injury-related. No further updates were provided.
Carrier has two assists in 22 games but has drawn a team-best 12 penalties.