Golden Knights report: Marc-Andre Fleury’s pranks stay under wraps

2 years ago 478

Golden Knights vs. Blackhawks

Blackhawks triumph 2-1

RJ’s 3 stars

■ 3. Knights defenseman Ben Hutton — He scored his archetypal extremity with the Knights and his archetypal successful the NHL since March 8. He has 4 points successful his past six games.

■ 2. Blackhawks halfway Jujhar Khaira — He bushed goaltender Robin Lehner with a crisp wrist changeable connected a 2-on-1 successful the 2nd period. He has 3 goals and nary assists successful 23 games.

■ 1. Blackhawks goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury — He made 30 saves successful his archetypal crippled against his erstwhile team for the 502nd triumph of his Hall of Fame career. He made a cardinal prevention precocious connected close helping Evgenii Dadonov.

Key play

Blackhawks defenseman Riley Stillman’s game-winning goal.

The play started with a turnover successful the antiaircraft portion for the Knights that was picked up by Blackhawks guardant Dylan Strome. He passed the puck to Stillman, who fired a wrist changeable from supra the faceoff circles.

Stillman’s shot, headed toward the mediate of the crease, deflected disconnected Knights halfway Brett Howden astatine the apical of the ellipse connected its mode to the net. It changed absorption and got past Lehner abbreviated broadside for Stillman’s archetypal extremity of the season.

It was his 2nd extremity successful 79 NHL games.

Key stat

Three — The fig of times the Knights had scored 1 extremity oregon less earlier Saturday’s game.

They were antecedently unopen retired Oct. 24 against the New York Islanders and Nov. 2 successful Toronto. They scored erstwhile Oct. 20 against the St. Louis Blues. The Knights had scored 2 oregon much each different game, and their mean of 3.54 goals per crippled ranked 4th successful the NHL.

Fleury and the Blackhawks unopen them down successful Game 38. Fleury’s .969 prevention percent was his 4th highest of the play successful 23 starts.

Knights mum connected pranks

Fleury is celebrated (or infamous) for the pranks he’s pulled connected teammates passim his career.

The Knights inactive aren’t acceptable to speech astir what helium pulled successful Las Vegas. Defenseman Shea Theodore pleaded the 5th Saturday erstwhile asked if helium was ever victimized by Fleury.

“I deliberation I was,” Theodore said. “I inactive person a mates suspicions, but I conjecture I’ll conscionable permission it astatine that.”

Fleury’s presumption arsenic a prankster is truthful entrenched that Knights skipper Mark Stone said his erstwhile teammate was erstwhile framed for an enactment helium didn’t commit. Stone aboriginal figured retired the deception.

“I thought I was (pranked by Fleury),” Stone said. “But I got to the bottommost of it.”

Knights’ adjacent 10

■ Vs. Maple Leafs, 7 p.m. Tuesday

■ Vs. Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. Jan. 17

■ Vs. Montreal, 7 p.m. Jan. 20

■ At Washington, 4 p.m. Jan. 24

■ At Carolina, 4 p.m. Jan. 25

■ At Florida, 4 p.m. Jan. 27

■ At Tampa Bay, 4 p.m. Jan. 29

■ Vs. Buffalo, 7 p.m. Feb. 1

■ At Arizona, 6:30 p.m. Feb. 25

■ Vs. Colorado, 7 p.m. Feb. 26