Fleury is backbone of Golden Knights' improbable run

LAS VEGAS --Marc-Andre Fleury was the most accomplished player the Vegas Golden Knights selected in the NHL Expansion Draft. He had 375 wins in the regular season and 62 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as a goaltender with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had three rings.
Think about that, though. A player with his resume was like everyone else on the roster.
Considered expendable by his former team.
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"A guy who's won three Stanley Cups, you don't think he's the one that's got something to prove," forward James Neal said. "But I think out of anyone who's come in this year with something to prove, it was him."
Fleury was nothing but classy when Matt Murray took over the No. 1 job in Pittsburgh. After the Penguins repeated as champions last year, it was Fleury who handed the Cup to Murray. On one level, he understood: He was 32, Murray 23. Murray had been excellent. The team had won.
But Fleury knew he could still be a No. 1 goaltender. He carried the Penguins through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year when Murray was injured, going 8-4 with a 2.55 goals-against average, .927 save percentage and a shutout.
"I was on the bench a bunch the last couple years," Fleury said. "I love the game. I love playing, right? And I got this opportunity to do it here, so I've just wanted to enjoy it."

Not only did he re-establish himself as a No. 1 goaltender, he was better than ever before for the Golden Knights, who won the Pacific Division in their inaugural season in the League. They host the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, ATTSN-RM, FS-W).
He had a career-low 2.24 GAA and career-high .927 save percentage, tying him for first with Antti Raanta of the Arizona Coyotes and for second with Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators in those categories, respectively, among goaltenders who played at least 45 games.
If not for the season finale, in which he allowed six goals on 18 shots in a 7-1 loss at the Calgary Flames on Saturday, when Vegas had nothing at stake, rested injured players and worked others back into the lineup, he would have had a 2.14 GAA and .931 save percentage. He would have led those categories.

"He's an had outstanding season," coach Gerard Gallant said. "And I think the biggest thing is, he's got a lot of pride and he wanted to prove to people that he's still a real good goalie."
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Before Dave Prior was the goaltending coach and George McPhee the general manager in Vegas, they held the same jobs with the Washington Capitals. Prior had scouted Fleury for the draft and competed against him for years.
"Dave always believed that he could be better than he's been," McPhee said. "And he was right."
Prior describes himself as a crusty, grandfatherly figure with an unorthodox approach to goaltending. He focuses on positioning more than mechanics. He wants his goaltenders to hold their ground, not retreat and cheat.
"When you're trying to react to shots, you often want to buy yourself time, so you'll act off the situation to buy space and time for reaction," Prior said. "And we don't always do that. We don't always give the shooter that pleasure of exposing more net."

If you're going to hold your ground, you need to be athletic enough to explode laterally. Fleury has always been known for his athleticism. When Prior watched Fleury in the playoffs last year, he thought he looked 25. He was thrilled to land him in the expansion draft.
So why did Fleury have a 3.02 GAA in 2016-17, his highest since the Penguins finished second-to-last in the League in 2005-06?
"I challenged Marc for an explanation," Prior said. " 'You're playing two consecutive seasons with a Stanley Cup champion. Explain to me why you have a [3.02] goals-against average.'
"So that's how we started prior to this season, because that's performing below his potential for me. And he explained some reasons for it. None of them were insurmountable in my mind. I said to him, 'We should be in the top five in the discussion.'"

Fleury tweaked his game and started strong. He sustained a concussion in the fourth game and missed the next 25. But after returning, he played 41 of 50 games from Dec. 12 through March 31, including 27 games in the final 61 days.
"I know he loves to play," Prior said. "We talked about it being more than what it takes to win the Cup, that many games. But he reminded me he had two months off, and he's held up quite well."
After the Golden Knights clinched the Pacific with a 3-2 victory against the San Jose Sharks on March 31, he was able to take a couple of games off.
"He wanted to be the backbone of our team, which he has been," Neal said. "He's played unbelievably. Healthy now and going into the playoffs fresh, you can see he's ready to go. When you have confidence in your goalie like that, it goes such a long way."
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The last time Fleury played the Kings, it was Feb. 26 at Staples Center. With the Golden Knights leading 1-0 in the first period, the puck bounced off the end boards and slid to a stop outside the trapezoid where Fleury couldn't touch it.
As defenseman Colin Miller came back, Fleury swept the ice as if he were a curler at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
"I had a little chuckle just as I was picking up the puck," Miller said. "It's hard not to sometimes with [Fleury] back there. He's always having fun and stuff like that, making jokes."
Like he was in Pittsburgh, Fleury is a pressure valve.

"He's making saves, going, 'Woo!' " defenseman Nate Schmidt said. "The puck's in the corner. 'Woo!' He's talking to you when you're on the ice. 'Great play, Schmitty!' You hear that back there, it's calming. His personality in general, throughout the whole year, that's been the coolest thing."
Even more than he was in Pittsburgh, Fleury is a leader. He has played 115 playoff games, more than anyone else in Vegas.
"When you're walking out of a rink after a game and your head's down, you don't know what to do really, I think that's where older guys can help," said Neal, who has played 80 playoff games, second-most in Vegas. "You've got to put it behind you. You've got to focus on the next game at hand. The quicker you can get rid of things in the playoffs, the faster you can look forward good or bad, it helps you a lot. So [Fleury] will be great at that."
Most important, Fleury is a No. 1 goaltender again. He has a chance to play again. Unexpectedly, unbelievably, he has a chance to win again.
"I still want to win more Cups," Fleury said. "Playoffs are the most fun to play in. I was looking forward to the challenge to come here and as a team prove people wrong."