Fleury, Golden Knights make more playoff history

Marc-Andre Fleury helped the Vegas Golden Knights make more history in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Fleury, a three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins, made 31 saves Wednesday to help the Golden Knights defeat the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 and complete a sweep in the Western Conference First Round.

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It's the second time in as many seasons that Fleury has shut out an opponent in a series-clinching game. He was in goal when the Penguins defeated the Washington Capitals 2-0 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round last year.
Fleury finished with 127 saves on 130 shots, a .977 save percentage. The clincher was his 66th playoff win, moving him past Dominik Hasek for sole possession of 11th place on the NHL's all-time list. The shutout was the 12th of his NHL career, tying Terry Sawchuk for 10th place in playoff history.
Fleury's 0.65 goals-against average makes him the fifth goaltender in the expansion era (since 1967-68) to win all four games of a playoff series and finish with a GAA of 0.70 or less. The others: Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators (0.70 GAA in 2017 Western Conference First Round), Tony Esposito of the Chicago Blackhawks (0.50 GAA in 1974 NHL Semifinals), Jean-Sebastien Giguere of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (0.22 GAA in 2003 Western Conference Final) and Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins (0.44 GAA in 2013 Eastern Conference Final).
Vegas is the 15th team in NHL history and the second in as many years to allow three goals or fewer in a four-game series. Six teams have achieved the feat during the past 39 years, including the Predators against the Blackhawks in 2017. Only one team, the Ottawa Senators in 2002, has allowed three goals or fewer in a series that lasted more than four games. The Senators limited the Philadelphia Flyers to two goals in a 4-1 series win in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

The sweep by the Golden Knights is not only the first of its kind for a professional team in any of the four major sports in its inaugural season, but also a rare feat for any team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs over the past 10 years. Since 2009, 12.5 percent of series have ended after four games.
The Golden Knights joined the 1970 Pittsburgh Penguins as the only teams to sweep their first playoff series and is the first to do so in its inaugural season. The 1914 Boston Braves are the only other team in the four major sports to sweep its first playoff series; they swept the Philadelphia Athletics in the 11th season baseball held the World Series to determine a champion. The Elias Sports Bureau notes that the only other team to sweep a best-of-7 series in its first trip to the postseason was the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers, who swept the Los Angeles Lakers in 1977, Portland's seventh season in the league.
Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb scored the only goal in the Game 4 win, becoming the fourth player in NHL history to score a series-clinching goal against the team he played for the previous season. Elias notes that McNabb joined Gerry Ehman of the Toronto Maple Leafs against Boston in the 1959 semifinals, Jean-Francois Sauve of the Quebec Nordiques against the Buffalo Sabres in the 1984 Adams Division Semifinals and Garry Valk of the Maple Leafs against the Penguins in the 1999 Eastern Conference Semifinals.