Elite players have that ability to just turn it on at key moments and we witnessed that on Wednesday as the Vegas Golden Knights shutout the Edmonton Oilers.
It has been a testing year for Vegas Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury both on and off the ice.
From being a victim of playing behind a weak defense to the tragedy of losing his father, this has arguably been one of the toughest years of Fleury’s prestigious and glittering career.
As a result, there has been a clear regression in the future Hall of Famer’s game this year, who posted one of the lowest Save Percentages of his career with .883 after going 3-6-2 in January.
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Granted, the 35-year-old benefitted from skipping the 2020 All-Star Game and he has started to look more like himself over the last few weeks.
But, to then throw another wrench into the works, some speculated that a goalie controversy may be brewing in Vegas after the Golden Knights pulled the trigger on a stunning trade to acquire Robin Lehner from the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
Despite General Manager Kelly McCrimmon insisting that Fleury was still the main man, that didn’t stop some from speculating that Lehner could dethrone the King given the latter’s superior production this year.
However, as all players at the very top of their craft do, Fleury answered his critics by doing what he does best.
With the Edmonton Oilers in town, arguably the Knights’ biggest rival for the Pacific Division, Fleury reminded everyone why he is still the sheriff in Vegas.
With ice flowing through his veins, the goalie delivered a resolute and vintage Marc-Andre Fleury performance to shutout the Oilers with 29 saves.
With the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl doing their utmost to win the game for Edmonton in the first period, Fleury stood on his head and bailed his team out time and time again.
He refused to be beaten and he was the sole reason why the Vegas Golden Knights delivered a statement win.
Without Fleury, the Knights would have been crushed in the first period alone, blowing the Pacific wide open yet again.
But this was Fleury at the peak of his powers and Robin Lehner must have been watching from behind the bench in sheer awe.
After all, this wasn’t just a big night for Vegas but also a momentous one for Fleury who recorded the 61st shutout of his career to tie
for 17th on the All-Time list.
Fleury now has three shutouts in his last 10 starts and five on the year in total, while he leads the entire NHL with 13 shutouts over the past two seasons.
Those stats are a testament to his recent resurgence with Fleury 5-0-0 in his last five starts with a .942 Save Percentage and a 1.60 Goals Against Average.
Dominant doesn’t even do it justice.
Going back to last night’s game, there were two highlight-reel plays that really epitomizes what Fleury means to this franchise.
There was the athletic pad save to absolutely rob Leon Draisaitl in the first period, then the absolutely insane reaction stop to somehow deny Connor McDavid in the third despite the play being behind him.
Simply put; with the game on the line in a big moment with the spotlight really on, there is no one else you want to deliver the goods than Fleury doing his thing between the pipes.
This was Marc-Andre Fleury at his absolute best and if this is now the norm again then the Vegas Golden Knights will have a good a chance as any to win the Stanley Cup this year.
All players, even the best of the best, go through slumps but the truly great players have the mental fortitude to find a way out of it and return to dominance.
With his latest backup watching on, Wednesday night was Marc-Andre Fleury reminding everyone of who the real sheriff in town is.
And it was breathtaking to watch.
It was greatness personified.