Vegas Golden Knights Activate Marc-Andre Fleury
The Vegas Golden Knights finally get their undisputed number one goaltender back from injury.
For the past two months, the Vegas Golden Knights had to endure injuries to almost all their goaltenders. The expansion team lost Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban, and Oscar Dansk all to injury within the first month of the season. And today, they somehow stand in second place in the Pacific division at 19-9-1.
Maxime Lagace carried the way for the most part during November. While he didn’t put up the best numbers, he battled, scratched and clawed every single game he started. Keep in mind; he’s the fourth goalie on the Golden Knights depth chart.
Lagace collected a massive win on the second end of a back to back against the organization he used to play for, the Dallas Stars. The Saint-Augustin Quebec native stopped 36 of 39 saves and made a ton of critical stops. If that was his last start with the Golden Knights this year, he made the most of his opportunity.
On Sunday afternoon, Vegas announced they have activated Fleury and optioned Lagace back to Chicago Wolves of the AHL. Lagace finished his time with the Golden Knights sporting a 6-6-1 record, a GAA of 3.79 and a save percentage of .879%. But the real story here is the return of “The Flower.”
Fleury went on a fantastic run with the Knights before his concussion. He started four games and went 3-1-0 with a 2.48 GAA and a .925 SV%. The NHL rewarded him with the second star for the week ending October 8th.
The Sorel, Quebec native will give this hockey club a big boost to their lineup on a consistent basis. However, with the way Subban is playing, the Knights would be wise to ease Fleury back into the full grind of an NHL season.
Before the season when the team acquired Subban, I didn’t know how well he would do at the NHL level every day. But after seeing how well he is playing, I would throw Subban in the net every three or four games. His 7-2-0 record, 2.33 GAA, and .924 SV% further justifies my point.
Fleury and Subban is a killer goaltending tandem. With these two goalies leading the way out of the tunnel every game, you have to feel good about your chances. Fleury will return to the Golden Knights crease for Tuesday nights game versus the Carolina Hurricanes at T-Mobile Arena.
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All in all, this is still Fleury’s team. But Subban’s play as of late can’t be ignored. This goaltending situation is a great problem to have if you’re the Vegas Golden Knights. You have a three-time Stanley Cup champion teaching the potential goaltender of the future for this franchise. Yep, I’d say this team is in a pretty good spot for a long time.