LAS VEGAS -- It was Game 3 of the Western Conference Final, and here was Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury tickling the ear of Winnipeg Jets forward Blake Wheeler in a scrum and diving across the crease to stop center Mark Scheifele.
Fleury keeping things loose for Golden Knights in Western Final
Goalie having fun, staying calm against Jets
RELATED: [Complete Jets vs. Golden Knights series coverage]
"I'm sweating on the bench, yelling my head off," coach Gerard Gallant said after a 4-2 win gave Vegas a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series Wednesday. "And I looked down there, and he's just having fun."
Fleury has personality and talent. That's well-documented. But what brings it out in full is his ability to keep his head while others lose theirs, to be easygoing when the going isn't easy.
He has done the wave with fans during a TV timeout, rubbed goal posts and crossbars after they have stopped shots, and patted teammates on their heads and behinds after good plays while going 10-3 with a 1.70 goals-against average and .945 save percentage in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Game 4 is here Friday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN1, TVAS).
"Some guys say they're having fun, but they're really not," said Chris Osgood, whose 74 playoff wins are eighth in NHL history and two ahead of Fleury. "They're hiding it. You can genuinely see that he's just having fun. He's just playing. If he has to dive around to make a save, that's what he does."
Having fun in the NHL isn't as simple as it sounds, even for Fleury, who was known for it when he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2003-04 through 2016-17. He's proud, competitive and human, and occasionally he'll lose his cool, like when he threw his stick in the hall after a 5-4 loss in his return to Pittsburgh on Feb. 6.
It's a learned skill, honed like any other, and a product of circumstance.
"I think I've learned over the years a bit," said Fleury, 33. "I've learned that I play better when I'm relaxed and smiling and having fun. Also we're winning games, so it makes it a lot easier than when you're losing them. I'm having a good time right now. Hopefully it keeps going for a little while longer."
Fleury went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2008 and won the Cup in 2009. The Penguins had the highest expectations after that with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and company, and things didn't always go as planned. Fleury went through ups and downs and had help from a sports psychologist in Montreal.
"I just had to find ways to stay relaxed and play relaxed -- the breathing, the thinking, enjoying stuff," said Fleury, who also won the Cup in 2016 and '17. "I feel like some years maybe I was putting a lot of pressure [on myself] to win, right? In Pittsburgh, you're supposed to win every year, right? And then sometimes maybe you get lost in it a bit too much. So I think it's just about realizing what you're doing and [having] some fun with it."
Fleury seems to play his best when he's the clear No. 1 goaltender and isn't looking over his shoulder. We saw that last season when he carried the Penguins with eight wins in the first two rounds while Matt Murray was injured, and we see that now. He's able to get in rhythm and not worry that one bad game will put him on the bench.
He had something to prove after the Penguins exposed him in the NHL Expansion Draft. The Golden Knights had no burden of expectations to start the season, and their success has snowballed ever since.
"[Fleury] has always been fun-loving, smiling, cracking jokes and pulling off pranks, but he's never been this loose," said his agent, Allan Walsh. "I think he takes his leadership role with Vegas very seriously, and he's thriving. There is no pressure. They are not supposed to be playing hockey right now. Everyone in Vegas approaches every day like it's a gift. They are all enjoying the ride. There is no dread of the next game, just anticipation and excitement."
In the end, whatever Game it is, with a capital G and a number, it's a game.
After Game 3 on Wednesday, Fleury met with the family of Darcy Haugan, coach and general manager of the Humboldt Broncos, one of 16 people killed in the junior team bus crash in Saskatchewan on April 6. He took time with widow Christina Haugan and her sons Carson, 12, and Jackson, 9, amid the media maelstrom in the locker room, talking to them as he took off his equipment, letting the boys try on his mask.
He played bubble hockey with the boys in the lounge at the Golden Knights' practice rink Thursday.
"Obviously they're big hockey fans," Fleury said. "For me, I'm fortunate I'm able to maybe just get them to think about something else a bit and try to make them smile a bit. I thought it was important to spend some time with them a little bit. It just makes you realize you've got to cherish every day, your family, your friends, and enjoy what you do."
