Vegas Golden Knights: Fleury shines to shutout the Penguins

Marc-Andre Fleury was again the star of the show after recording his first shutout of the year on his way to helping the Vegas Golden Knights clinch a 3-0 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Returning to a rink where he called home for 13 years and lifted three Stanley Cups, Fleury was simply outstanding as the Vegas Golden Knights recorded their 100th win in franchise history against a Penguins team that had carved out a five-game winning streak.

Fleury, making his fifth consecutive start, stopped all 29 shots fired at him for his first shutout of the year and his first win back at PPG Paints Arena.

After a slow and lacklustre first period from the Golden Knights, they woke from their slumber in the middle period and it was Paul Stastny who scored the game-winner.

Both William Karlsson and Mark Stone scored empty-netters late in the third period to ice the game, improving to 6-3-0 on the year as a result.

The Lineup

There was an NHL debut for rookie defenseman Jake Bischoff, who replaced fellow rookie Nic Hague on the bottom defensive pairing.

BIschoff was paired with veteran Deryk Engelland while the rest of the lineup remained the same with Alex Tuch and Nate Schmidt both a week or two away from returning.

The Game

First Period – Marc-Andre Fleury has been sensational through eight games this year and he continued doing Marc-Andre Fleury things against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He started by robbing former teammate Patric Hornqvist with a sensational pad save, before flashing the glove on a shot from Sam Lafferty after Kris Letang had wristed one off the post.

Vegas’ stellar penalty kill continued to roll after stopping the Penguins on the power play, although the Knights only recorded five shots on goal in what was a disjointed opening period.

However, the biggest positive for the Golden Knights was the performance of rookie Jake Bischoff on his debut, who looked like he had been playing the game for years as opposed to a matter of minutes.

Second Period – Vegas were given an opportunity to go on the power play early on in the middle frame after Zach Aston-Reese crashed into Marc-Andre Fleury, and the Knights made their hosts pay.

Cody Glass continued his fine start to his rookie year after finding Paul Stastny at the backdoor with a sublime dish, and the center did the rest by one-timing it past Tristan Jarry in the Pittsburgh goal.

Glass nearly scored himself after shooting on the turn, before Jarry was tested time and time again on another Vegas power play.

Jake Bischoff’s shot from the point nearly got through Jarry while Fleury continued to do more Fleury things in net as he kept the Penguins at bay.

Third Period – Zach Aston-Reese crashed a shot against the crossbar after Fleury somehow got contact on the puck, with the game remaining a closely-fought contest.

The Penguins had their opportunities, too, after being gifted back-to-back power plays but they could not find a way past the unstoppable Fleury, who was simply sensational.

And Pittsburgh remained on the man advantage after Jon Merrill was sent to the box for two minutes for cross-checking, which prompted the Penguins to pull Tristan Jarry.

However, the Knights are dangerous shorthanded, especially with William Karlsson on the ice, and the forward grabbed his first goal of the year thanks to an empty-netter.

And Mark Stone scored another empty-netter with 51 seconds left to ice the game for the Golden Knights and get this three-game road trip off to a winning start.

Let’s go over some notes and stats from the game…