Vegas Golden Knights: Fleury’s triumphant return, other takeaways
Dominance after the bye week continued for the Vegas Golden Knights who shutout the Nashville Predators in a 3-0 success on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.
Hot off the heels of beating the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, the Vegas Golden Knights produced the goods again to sweep both games of a back-to-back set and secure two huge wins in consecutive nights.
And it was pure domination for the Golden Knights who had the measure of the Predators from the first drop of the puck to the last.
Vegas outshot the Preds 14-2 in the first period and, were it not for the heroic efforts of Pekka Rinne in the Nashville goal, the Knights could have been home and dry heading into the second period.
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But, as the old saying goes, keep trying and you will eventually succeed and that’s what happened in the middle frame when Chandler Stephenson beat Rinne with a wrister on the breakaway.
And the Golden Knights pressed their foot down on the throat of their opponent in the third period, icing the game thanks to Nicolas Roy‘s third goal of the year and an empty-netter from Reilly Smith.
Marc-Andre Fleury also did his part as the future Hall of Famer goalie stopped all 19 shots fired at him to secure both his 59th career shutout and his career 459th win.
It was a complete effort from the Vegas Golden Knights who are showing plenty of signs of improvement under new Head Coach Peter DeBoer, and we had some takeaways from the success over the Nashville Predators…
1. Fleury back with a bang
After opting to sit out the 2020 NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis, Marc-Andre Fleury was forced to miss the Carolina Hurricanes showdown on Friday as a punishment.
Malcolm Subban got the job done against the Canes but it was time for Fleury to shine between the pipes against the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
And shine he did.
Helped by his defense who did a great job of putting the shackles on Nashville’s big hitters, Fleury faced just 19 shots on goal and he stopped all of them.
It was also a milestone night for Fleury who continues to strengthen his Hall of Fame case, which is going to be a home run once he eventually hangs up his skates.
By beating the Predators Fleury recorded his 459th career win in the NHL to tie New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist for 5th on the NHL All-Time Wins list.
And, Fleury’s shutout on Saturday was also the 59th of his career, moving him ahead of Pekka Rinne for 19th all-time in shutouts
It was also important for the Golden Knights to see Fleury back to his best after an up-and-down year, and Vegas will need their elite goalie to be at the peak of his powers heading down the stretch.
2. New Coach, New Ways
As was to be expected, new Vegas Golden Knights Head Coach Peter DeBoer was always going to put his own stamp on this team.
And, after using the three games before the All-Star Break to really study what he had at his disposal, we are now starting to see the fruits of DeBoer’s labor.
One of the many bugaboos that has plagued this team has been an inability to transition out of their own zone without coughing up turnovers.
That is of course problematic and those kind of errors won’t translate to a deep postseason run or sustained success.
As a result, that was one area DeBoer has really worked on and we started to see the results of that on Saturday.
There were many examples of it but one play in the latter stages of the first period probably summed up DeBoer’s new way of doing things the best.
Zach Whitecloud, making his season debut, retrieved the puck in his own zone following a Nashville dump-in, and the rookie had D-partner Jon Merrill as an outlet.
Merrill had a Predators forward breathing down his neck in an instance, but both Nicolas Roy and Tomas Nosek did an excellent job of skating back to offer support.
Then, Merrill made a simple play to Roy who was then able to feed the puck to Nosek who exited the zone with ease.
It was an effective strategy that is a far cry from what we have seen from Vegas in their own zone for most of the year, and if they are able to make that kind of play a staple of their playbook then the transition game should improve greatly.
For a full breakdown, read Jesse Granger’s excellent piece for The Athletic here.
3. Stone Magic
It seems absurd to say it but Mark Stone doesn’t get nearly enough credit or praise for the type of player he is.
The wing is an elite two-way forward who without doubt sits in the upper-echelons of the best two-way forwards in the NHL.
However, Stone often gets lost in the noise that surrounds the more younger or high-profile names in the league.
But, as was showcased on Saturday, there is no other player quite like Mark Stone and we should feel privileged that he’s a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.
The forward made one highlight-reel play in particular that really epitomizes what he’s all about in terms of elite vision and creativity.
With the game tied at 0-0 in the second period, Stone received the puck from Max Pacioretty and, with his back to goal and a Nashville defenseman breathing down his neck, Stone carved out some space for himself before dishing an inch-perfect pass to Chandler Stephenson who proceeded to beat Pekka Rinne on the breakaway.
It was a sublime play that best sums up Stone’s high hockey IQ, and it was the forward’s 30th assist and 48th point of the year, tied for first on the team with Max Pacioretty.
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With 37 blocked shots, 45 hits and a staggering 68 takeaways, Stone is on pace for another stellar year and plays like the one he executed on Saturday highlights his importance to the Vegas Golden Knights.