Fleury adds to Vegas’ fun
nothing new to anybody in Pittsburgh.
It’s also what Vegas has grown to learn and love about Fleury, the undeniable fan favorite of this team.
“He’s a guy that has fun out there,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “I’m sweating on the bench, yelling my head off. I look down, and he’s just having fun.”
Or goofing around with somebody, which was the case Wednesday.
Only this wasn’t Brad Marchand literally delivering a lick. No, Fleury saw everyone all upset during a post-whistle scrum, went up to Wheeler and appeared to flick his left ear.
Marc-Andre, what’s the deal?
“I did that?” Fleury said before James Neal, seated next to the goaltender at the postgame podium, interjected.
“Can’t do anything,” Neal teased.
“I know,” Fleury shot back. “There are cameras everywhere.” Anyway … “I don’t know,” Fleury said. “I didn’t think. I was just sitting there. He’s sitting there. Everyone’s fighting. I tried to have a little smile by myself. That’s it.”
Separating Fleury from the pack gets much, much easier if you parse through playoff stats.
Fleury picked up his 10th playoff win Wednesday. His goals-against average actually climbed a few hairs to 1.70, while his save percentage remains a robust .945. The four shutouts Fleury has posted are two more than anyone else, but an argument could be made that Wednesday was his best postseason performance yet.
“He’s amazing,” Shea Theodore said. “Some of those saves were incredible, definitely highlight-reel saves. It’s fun to watch.”
That brilliance came in handy, too, because the Golden Knights faded a bit in the third, allowing Winnipeg to get within striking distance. But Fleury made a key breakaway stop on Tyler Myers midway through the final period before robbing Scheifele twice and even stopped Dustin Byfuglien in all alone a couple minutes later.
“We kind of hung him out to dry there,” Erik Haula said.
“He won that game for us. Obviously, he’s our backbone. He’s been that all year. He’s probably the best goalie in the league right now.”
Fleury certainly looked like that on the Scheifele stops, which are sure to find their way on a few highlight reels.
After Fleury denied the first attempt, the puck kicked into a juicy area of the slot. But after lunging to his left, the athletic Fleury was able to get his catching glove on the follow-up chance.
“It hit my toe and came back right in the middle of the slot,” Fleury said. “That wasn’t ideal. I knew he had a lot of time and some room to shoot at. I just tried to get as much body as I could in front of it. Got a piece. Was happy with that.”
So were Fleury’s teammates, who gushed about the saves and Fleury’s overall performance.
“He’s been doing it all playoffs, doing it his whole life,” Neal said. “Great saves. Key moment in the game. Game-saver.”
“I have no idea how he made those saves,” Alex Tuch added. “Phenomenal, though.”
“We don’t want to give up too many of those because he’s not superhuman, but, right now, he looks like it,” Theodore said. “He’s playing really well.”
Haula hinted at how well Fleury is playing at the moment, saying he’s probably the best in the NHL at the moment. Tuch took it a step further.
“I think he’s the best goalie in the world, honestly,” Tuch said.
Fleury is easily among the nicest and most generous with his time, which is what the Haugan family learned firsthand after this one.
It was one of many classy gestures performed by Fleury dating to his time with the Penguins, when it was somehow questioned whether Fleury could get it done in the playoffs.
“It’s kind of hard for me to believe that,” Jonathan Marchessault said of the reputation Fleury developed in Pittsburgh.
“Last year, if it wasn’t for him, the first two rounds, I don’t think [the Penguins] would have won. He’s a gamer. He’s our heart. We definitely want to battle for a guy like that.”