Vegas Golden Knights: Fleury’s magic, other takeaways from Leafs win
Marc-Andre Fleury rightly stole all the headlines for more than one reason as the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.
Building on their blowout win of the Calgary Flames on Sunday, the Vegas Golden Knights continued this four-game homestand by beating the Maple Leafs in impressive fashion.
Of course, the star of the show was Fleury who made 31 saves from 33 shots, including the surefire winner for Save of the Year with a breathtaking glove stop to absolutely rob Nic Petan.
It has dominated social media and the internet since, and it will probably be the save that ends up defining Fleury’s career.
It was also a night to remember for rookie Cody Glass who recorded the first multi-point night of his career with a goal and an assist, while Max Pacioretty also registered a two-point night with two assists.
Mark Stone got on the board for the second straight game and Cody Eakin also made it two in two after adding an empty net goal late on.
Tomas Nosek recorded the goal of the night, however, with a sublime individual effort after stealing the puck in the neutral zone before embarking on a breakaway and backhanding the puck past Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen.
Both Jason Spezza and Zach Hyman did get on the board for the Leafs but it wasn’t enough as they dropped their sixth straight, leading to Mike Babcock’s firing as the Head Coach of Toronto.
But, while it wasn’t a good night for Babcock or the Maple Leafs, it was a hell of a night for Fleury and the Golden Knights who have now won two straight.
Let’s delve into our main takeaways from last night’s win…
1. Fleury’s Historical Night
What a night it was for Marc-Andre Fleury.
Just confirm his place in the Hall of Fame now and get it over with.
Because, let’s face it, Fleury is heading to the Hockey Hall of Fame once he hangs up his skates and it won’t even be a debate.
Fleury has been playing at an elite level all season but last night was a historic one for the 34-year-old for a plethora of reasons.
First and foremost, the win was No. 450 for Fleury who is only the seventh goaltender in the rich history of the National Hockey League to achieve that milestone.
He is seventh on the list and is only four wins behind current New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist and former Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph (both with 454 wins).
It is likely too that Fleury, who is under contract through 2021-22, will surpass the recently retired Roberto Luongo who sits third on the All-Time Wins list with 489.
And that was only one half of what was an outstanding night for Marc-Andre Fleury.
Not content with racking up another significant milestone, Fleury also produced the save of the year and arguably one of the greatest ever saves in the history of the National Hockey League.
With Toronto chasing the goal that would tie the game, Maple Leafs forward Nic Petan had the puck on his stick and a gaping net.
Easy, right?
Well, think again, because Fleury wasn’t having any of it and the veteran somehow shifted his position before leaping through the air like Superman and snatching the puck out of the air to leave Petan absolutely deflated.
What. A. Moment.
It was truly a career-defining save and it is rightly getting a plethora of praise and views.
One historic milestone and one truly incredible save – what a night for Marc-Andre Fleury.
2. A First For Glass
As big a night as it was for Marc-Andre Fleury, it was also a memorable night in the young career of Cody Glass.
Glass had gone eight straight games without recording a single point, but he ended that drought in some style last night against the Maple Leafs.
The rookie potted a goal and tallied an assist and that is significant because it was his first multi-point night of his NHL career.
It was a significant milestone for Glass who now has four goals and five assists for nine points through 23 games.
we still only have one goal but here's another video of that goal so maybe you'll think we've scored more
— 🏆 - Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) November 20, 2019
k bye pic.twitter.com/fsTr9a68br
And the 20-year-old’s goal came on the power play from a Max Pacioretty rebound as he continues to log big minutes on the top man advantage unit.
But more impressive was Glass’ neat feed to Mark Stone in the circle who then ripped a wrister beyond Frederik Andersen for Vegas’ second power play goal.
It was another important step in the maturation of Cody Glass and the rookie looks at home in the NHL right now.
3. Knights Back On Track
The world seemed to be ending last week as the Vegas Golden Knights were in the midst of a five-game losing streak, as well as dropping seven of eight.
But what a difference a few days make.
Because, after two straight wins, the Vegas Golden Knights appear to be getting back to being the team we thought they were heading into 2019-20.
They outshot both the Leafs and the Calgary Flames, and they also did a good job of playing a controlled game in the first two periods of both contests.
But, unlike the game against the Flames, the Knights had their backs against the wall in the third period against the Leafs, being outshot 16-10.
The final period was a bit of a track meet too and the Maple Leafs would have taken the game to Overtime were it not for Marc-Andre Fleury’s stunning, stunning save.
Next. We need to talk about Marc-Andre Fleury. dark
However, give credit where credit is due because the Golden Knights dug in, they battled hard and they did what they had to do before Cody Eakin iced the game with a late empty netter.
You could argue that Vegas would have lost that kind of game during their slump, but they appear to have their identity back and that is a major positive going forward.