Vegas Golden Knights: Marc-Andre Fleury is team’s MVP so far

Just where would the Vegas Golden Knights be without Marc-Andre Fleury this year? That is a very easy question to answer.

And the answer is that the Vegas Golden Knights would be a lot worse off now were it not for their future Hall of Famer, who has been playing at an elite level this year and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

While his blueline has not been stellar for much of the season, Fleury has risen to the occasion yet again and has bailed out his team time and time again.

He has already accumulated enough sublime saves to fill a highlight-reel, and he’s also had to shoulder a lot of the workload due to Malcolm Subban suffering an injury during the month of October.

To put it simply, Fleury has been outstanding for the Golden Knights through the first month and a bit of the regular season, further cementing his status as not only one of the best goaltenders in the NHL right now, but also one of the best to have ever taken his place between the pipes.

Through 16 starts this season, Fleury has a 10-5-1 record with a 2.52 Goals Against Average, a .920 Save Percentage and two shutouts.

He ranks second in the NHL in wins (10), 12th in Sv% (.920), 13th in GAA (2.52), 4th in Shots Against (512), 4th in Saves (471) and 3rd in Time On Ice (977:43).

Impressive stuff indeed and the stats only tell half the story. Just look at the eye test and the plethora of unbelievable saves Fleury has made already this year.

He’s come to Vegas’ rescue on countless occasions and he can take a lot of credit for why the Knights’ slump wasn’t a lot worse than it was.

And put it this way, when Malcolm Subban has come in the backup goalie has posted a 0-3-2 record with a 3.42 Goals Against Average and a .888 Save Percentage. Granted, he’s been left to hang out to dry more often than not, but that isn’t getting the job done.

But, back to Fleury and some of the veteran’s stops this season have been breathtaking, both with the glove and with the pad.

He just fills his defense with confidence and you know he’s good for a handful of game-changing saves per game, which then puts the onus on the offense to finish the job.

Just go back to Sunday when Fleury made 34 stops in the blowout win against the Calgary Flames, including this stunning pad save to deny Mark Giordano:

Fleury is also racking up milestones too. On Sunday he secured his 58th career regular season shutout to pass Clint Benedict and Pekka Rinne for sole possession of 20th place on the NHL’s all-time list. Only Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers has more (63) shutouts among active goaltenders, and he’s currently ranked 16th.

And, furthermore, Fleury’s next win will be his 450th which would make him the seventh goaltender in NHL history to reach that particular plateau.

This year is shaping up to be an historic one on a personal level for Marc-Andre Fleury, and he has a critical role to play when it comes to trying to help the Vegas Golden Knights win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

Given the elite level Fleury is currently playing at, then you wouldn’t bet against the Knights making a deep postseason run with their very own MVP performing heroics between the pipes.