Early in the second period of the Golden Knights’ 8-3 loss to New Jersey, Devils’ forward Travis Zajac beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a simple wrist shot to his blocker side.
It was what goalies refer to as a “soft goal,” especially for Fleury, who has played the best hockey of his career this season. Only 36 seconds later, Stefan Noesen got behind Vegas’ defense for a breakaway and put the puck between Fleury’s legs to give the Devils a commanding 4-0 lead.
Fleury was summoned to the bench for the first time as a Golden Knight, where he spent the rest of the blowout loss.
The 33-year-old netminder looked tired in net, and for good reason. It was his 18th start in the last 19 games.
“I was a little slow to react sometimes, but I don’t like making excuses for being tired,” Fleury said. “It’s your job and it’s not easy to be consistent for so many games, but you have to find ways to be good every night.”
When backup goaltender Malcolm Subban was placed on the injured reserve on Feb. 10, it seemed harmless as long as Fleury could stay healthy. That hasn’t been the case, as it has forced Fleury into playing more games, more often.
Fleury allowed two goals on the first three shots of the game against New Jersey, and four goals on 11 total shots in the 22 minutes he played on Wednesday.
“It’s never something I would blame it on,” Fleury said. “You play when you’re sick, you play when you’re tired and you play when you feel good. You have to find ways to get through whatever you feel like.”
During the 22-game stretch when both Fleury and Subban were healthy, Fleury started in 16 games while Subban took six. That’s 72.7 percent of the starts, or roughly three out of every four games.
But in the 19 games since Subban’s injury Fleury has started 18 of the games. The 14-year veteran has logged more than 1,000 minutes of ice time in only 38 days.
Fleury has no problem with it. Throughout his entire career he has campaigned to play as often as possible.
“I always (like to play),” Fleury said. “I have a lot of fun, at least when I don’t get scored on this much. I love being on the ice and being a part of the team and helping the team win games.”
It’s up to the coaches to decide when to rest Fleury, and Wednesday night could have been a great opportunity. With Tuesday an off day, and Thursday a light practice it would have given Fleury a much-needed three days rest. Factor in that New Jersey is an Eastern Conference team, and the Golden Knights still lead the Pacific Division by double digits.
“They mostly just tell me when I’m in and when I’m out,” Fleury said. “They always ask my opinion but the coaches make that decision.”
Gallant didn’t put the loss on Fleury or Maxime Lagace, who allowed four goals on 17 shots in relief.
“(It wasn’t) the goalies,” Gallant said. “The team lost the game tonight.”
Vegas outshot New Jersey by a wide margin, 42-28.
“We created a lot of chances,” Gallant said. “I’m sure I’ll look at it tomorrow and say we probably out-chanced New Jersey, but we gave them too many good chances.”
Fleury was great during the Golden Knights’ five-game road trip prior to Wednesday night, helping Vegas to a 4-1 stretch, but eventually the playing time adds up.
It’s understandable for the team to be hesitant to rest him. Lagace’s .867 save percentage is the worst in the NHL among goalies who have played at least 15 games.
The other option is Oscar Dansk, who went 3-0 with a goals against average of 1.78 earlier in the season prior to his injury, and is now with the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League. Vegas may be hesitant to call him up because of the rule limiting teams to only four call-ups after the trade deadline, but if Subban doesn’t return to the lineup soon it could be necessary.
For now, it appears Fleury won’t be getting much rest. The Golden Knights host Minnesota Friday night in an important Western Conference matchup. Vegas is 0-2 this season against the Wild with 4-2 and 5-2 losses in Minneapolis.
“We need to learn from our mistakes but not dwell on it too long,” Fleury said. “We have a game in two days so we have to get ready for that one.”
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