The tweet, posted from Allan Walsh's private account Saturday, depicted a sword with "DeBoer" written on it going through Fleury's chest. The tweet has since been deleted.
Fleury addressed the situation Sunday and said he was OK with his spot in the goalie rotation, which has seen Robin Lehner emerge as the No. 1 option. Fleury also said he spoke to everyone involved, including his teammates, to clear the air.
"I've known these guys for a while now and I don't know, I just want to put this behind and move on," Fleury said. "All I care about is winning and what's best for the team, and they know that."
Fleury, who had been the No. 1 goalie for Vegas since its inaugural season in 2017-18, started twice this postseason, a 6-4 win against the St. Louis Blues in the round-robin portion of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, and a 2-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has a 2.50 goals-against average and .886 save percentage.
Lehner, acquired by the Golden Knights from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 24 after Chicago traded him to Toronto earlier that day, started the other seven postseason games. He made 26 saves in a 5-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks in Game 1 of the Western Conference Second Round on Sunday and is 6-1-0 with a 2.10 GAA and .918 save percentage.
"Me and Marc were just laughing. It's always the media and everyone else that makes a big deal out of this," Lehner said of Walsh's tweet after his first NHL postseason shutout. "I think me and Marc we get along great; he's a really good guy. This team is a [heck] of a group and everyone is really tight, and when this happened, I saw Marc and we were just laughing. That's all it is. At the end of the day, he didn't do anything. It was his agent, and if he wants to be unprofessional, go ahead. He looks terrible, but it is what it is."
Lehner started Game 1 despite Fleury being 12-2-2 with a 2.75 GAA and .907 save percentage in 16 games against the Canucks. He hasn't lost to Vancouver in regulation since Jan. 16, 2006.
"Allan's been my agent for a long time," Fleury said. "I think he's a guy who always cares about his players and does about me also. I really appreciate his passion for the game that he has, maybe [the tweet was] a way to defend me in that situation for not playing much. But I'm here to be with my team and have success and that's all that matters. Because of that, I asked him to take that picture down and he did this morning. That's it."
Fleury, who won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins as a starter in 2009 and as a backup to Matt Murray in 2016 and 2017, is 466-266-80 with two ties, a 2.57 GAA, a .913 save percentage and 61 shutouts in 847 NHL games (822 starts). He is 80-62 with a 2.59 GAA, a .911 save percentage and 15 shutouts in 144 NHL playoff games (142 starts).
He started each of the 20 games for the Golden Knights in the 2018 playoffs, when they lost to the Washington Capitals in five games in the Stanley Cup Final.
DeBoer, who replaced Gerard Gallant as coach Jan. 15, was 15-5-2 with the Golden Knights before the season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. Vegas earned the No. 1 seed by going 3-0-0 in the round-robin before defeating Chicago in five games in the first round of the playoffs.
Lehner was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the goalie voted best in the NHL, last season when he played for the New York Islanders. He is 116-120-45 with a 2.72 GAA, a .918 save percentage and 15 shutouts in 301 NHL games (282 starts) with the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, Islanders, Blackhawks and Golden Knights, and is 10-6 with a 2.07 GAA and .927 save percentage in 17 NHL playoff games (15 starts).
Although Fleury said he is disappointed in his lack of playing time, he said all was good with his relationship with Lehner.
"It was good to talk, to see where we're at," Fleury said. "We all want to win, right? That's why we're here. I don't like being a distraction to my team. Talked with Robin too. I really like Robin. We have a good friendship and he's a very good goalie, also. No hard feelings."
