Fleury, Golden Knights know they must put Game 4 loss behind them

SAN JOSE -- The recent past has been so good to goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and his Vegas Golden Knights teammates, and the immediate future isn't looking too bad either, considering they are two wins from the Western Conference Final.

It's just that troubling matter of the present after the San Jose Sharks defeated them 4-0 in Game 4 of the second round at SAP Center on Wednesday to even the best-of-7 series 2-2.
"What's fresh in your mind is tonight," Fleury said. "You're never happy when you lose. We had a chance to hurt them tonight with a win tonight, and we didn't."
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Everything had been going so well for Fleury. Perhaps that's why Game 4 was somewhat startling. He made 30 saves but gave up an uncharacteristic goal from long range when Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi scored with six seconds remaining in the first period to make it 2-0.
"Just came with speed and cut across the middle and shoot through the [defenseman's] legs. I just didn't pick it up," Fleury said. "And when I saw it, it was too late."
Said Tomas Hertl, who scored in the second period to give the Sharks a 3-0 lead: "He's not Superman. We can score too, and we scored again four goals, and it was huge for us."

It only seemed as though Fleury had attained superhero status after the first five games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
In those games, Fleury gave up three goals and had eye-popping numbers: a 0.54 goals-against average and .982 save percentage.
In the next three, Fleury allowed 11 goals. In eight games in the playoffs, he has a 1.53 GAA and a .951 save percentage.
"We had chances in the last two games to take it up in front, but Fleury, I think has been exceptional especially early in games in order to keep us off the board," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "It's nice that we've stuck with it, and hopefully we see some cracks."
Fleury played well in a 4-3 double-overtime loss in Game 2. In a 4-3 overtime win in Game 3, his glove save against Logan Couture 3:10 into OT is one of the highlights of the playoffs.
That's the Fleury the Golden Knights fully expect to see when the series returns to Las Vegas for Game 5 on Friday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS). He is capable of giving them a chance to win even when they are not playing their very best.
"He's our backbone," defenseman Brayden McNabb said. "He has been all year. Amazing goalie, amazing person. We're very fortunate to have him. Maybe we rely on him too much, but he's our backbone, and we're 100 percent confident in him back there."

Fleury said he didn't think the Golden Knights were "that bad" in Game 4, their first road loss of the playoffs.
"Nobody thought it was going to be an easy series either," he said. "We're in good shape 2-2 (in the series), going home and obviously it [stinks] to lose this one."
This, apparently, wasn't the time for self-evaluation. There will be plenty of time for that before Game 5.
"It doesn't matter," Fleury said. "It's a win and loss. It's not a personal game. It's the whole team. (Whether it's) 4-0, 2-1, it doesn't matter.
"Put it behind and get ready for the next one."