The goaltending position a non-issue for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018-19 regular season.
The Vegas Golden Knights used five different goalies in their inaugural season in 2017-18. Five different netminders is an uncharacteristic number for any team to handle. You would think if a team used that many goaltenders, they would be in the cellar of the conference standings, but that was far from the truth.
Every single goalie the Golden Knights called up, played a huge role in their successful first season in the NHL. Malcolm Subban proved he could be a capable NHL backup, Dylan Ferguson went onto play a few minutes at the NHL level during the year he was drafted in, Max Lagace, gave the team a chance to win every night and Oscar Dansk went 3-0-0 and earned the team’s first shutout in franchise history. And Marc-Andre Fleury went on to put up career numbers in a year where he missed a little over half the season.
This year, Vegas goaltending was solid once again and a lot healthier compared to last season. We’ll go over the years Fleury and Subban had during the team’s second year of existence. Lagace only played one game so he’ll get an incomplete grade.
Marc-Andre Fleury
Not only was the Sorel, Quebec native great for the Vegas Golden Knights, but he was also one of the best goaltenders in the entire league. Fleury posted a 35-21-5 record with GAA of 2.51 and a .913 SV%. But that’s not all; he ranked second in the NHL in shutouts with eight.
Fleury started slow just like the entire Golden Knights roster, but as soon as March hit, the team and Fleury took off. In Fleury’s starts, the team went undefeated in fives games and gave up only four goals total. Although, However, Fleury collected four of his eight shutouts in 13 games played in November.
Without his strong play in the blue paint, the team may have not qualified to compete in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Fleury may not win the Vezina trophy, but he’ll be in the discussion, for sure.
Grade: A
Malcolm Subban
It was a challenging year for Subban. The team got off to a slow start, and the coaching staff didn’t give him a ton of playing time to work out of his rough patch. In six games Subban started the year 0-5-0 and allowed 19 goals. The team lost confidence in their backup quick and relied heavily on Fleury most of the year.
The Toronto, Ontario, native didn’t earn his first win until December 29th against the Los Angles Kings. From that point on, he went on a run as he went 7-2-0, allowing 23 goals and recorded a .926 SV%. Subban finished the year as he started it, losing his last five games in a row while also allowing 17 goals.
In conclusion, Subban is a fine backup, but he is not the team’s goaltender of the future. You can read my in-depth write up on Subban here. But as far as grades go, Subban had a very average second year in the NHL.
Grade: C
Both Vegas Golden Knights goalies did a great job all things considered. However, if the team losses Fleury at any point during the postseason, Golden Knights fans can’t expect to go back to the promised land in June. It’s all Flower from here on out for Sin City.