Vegas Golden Knights: Cold-blooded Fleury needs to be the starter in postseason

Postseason hockey is the one beacon of hope we are all clinging onto right now, and the goalie situation will be a hot topic of debate for the Vegas Golden Knights through the playoffs.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the Vegas Golden Knights are currently on lockdown along with the NHL and the rest of the sporting world.

With most of America self-isolating as the seriousness of this virus continues to be pressed home, a timeline for the return of hockey seems bleak to say the least.

Nothing is off the table for the NHL, however, and it seems likely that we could jump straight into the postseason once hockey is able to return.

More from Vegas Hockey Knight

• The moment the Vegas Golden Knights have been waiting for
• 3 Golden Knights players deserving of the Conn Smythe Trophy
• If Golden Knights win Stanley Cup, who should Mark Stone pass it to first?
• Why are Vegas Golden Knights fans obsessed with flamingos?
• Just one more game for Golden Knight supremacy

Playoff hockey is the best time of the year for hockey fans and it will be no different for Golden Knights fans given that their team will be among the favorites to lift the Stanley Cup this year.

Boasting a lethal top-six forward unit, depth scoring and a capable blueline led by Shea Theodore, the Golden Knights also boast one of the best 1-2 goalie punches in the entire NHL.

After pulling the trigger on a sensational trade for Robin Lehner from the Chicago Blackhawks at the Trade Deadline, Vegas significantly and dramatically bolstered their goaltending options.

Lehner has emerged as one of the most reliable and capable netminders in the league over the last few years, and he was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy in 2018-19 after backstopping the New York Islanders to the playoffs.

And Lehner didn’t disappoint for the Golden Knights, albeit in a small sample size, going 3-0-0 with a 1.67 Goals Against Average and a .940 Save Percentage.

That led to some fans and experts to ponder the following question:

Should the Vegas Golden Knights ride with Lehner in the playoffs?

My simple answer: NO.

Because, as good a goalie as Lehner is, and he’s one of the best in the entire NHL, Marc-Andre Fleury is still the man you want between the pipes in the heat of battle.

Granted, this hasn’t been a typical vintage year for Fleury who endured a rough patch or two prior to the NHL going on hiatus.

However, a couple of things to keep in mind here; one, Fleury lost his dad before Christmas which no doubt would have taken a huge mental toll on him, while the defense in-front of the future Hall of Famer wasn’t always up to scratch.

Plus, Fleury was really starting to hit his groove prior to the hiatus and his current stat line reads:

27-16-5
2.77 GAA
.905 Sv%

Okay, so the Goals Against Average in particular isn’t exactly stellar, but the eye test also suggested that Fleury was starting to really hit the peak of his powers before sports was disrupted.

And that then brings us on to perhaps the most valuable commodity in the postseason – experience

While Lehner has tasted the playoffs – eight starts with a 4-5-0 record – Fleury has the upper-hand by quite some distance in that department.

Between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Golden Knights, the 35-year-old has amassed a whopping 142 playoff games with a 78-62-0 record and 15 shutouts.

Furthermore, Fleury has three Stanley Cups to his name and he knows what it takes to roll with the punches in order to win the greatest prize in all of sports.

He has gone through the slog of a long postseason run on five occasions, four with the Penguins and once with the Golden Knights, and you can’t buy that kind of experience.

Plus, Fleury has demonstrated time and time again that he has ice in his veins when it comes to stepping up and producing game-saving heroics.

Hell, there are countless examples alone throughout the Golden Knights’ stunning run to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural year in 2017-18.

Then, you just need to go back to 2009 when, in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final against the Detroit Red Wings, to see first-hand just what Fleury is capable of when the chips are down and the pressure really is on.

In the waning seconds of the game, and with the Penguins boasting a one-goal lead, the Red Wings were unleashing one final onslaught on the Pittsburgh goal.

All the Penguins had to do was hang on but they were tested in the biggest of ways when the puck found its way to Nicklas Lidstrom.

It was a true clash of the titans moment between two of the best players in the NHL, and the Red Wings would not have wanted the puck on anyone else’s stick.

However, while Lidstrom did what he had to do, Fleury produced the kind of moment that will forever live on in the rich history of the Stanley Cup.

Sliding across and showing insane reflexes, Fleury somehow got his body in the way of the puck and that was enough to clinch the Stanley Cup for the Penguins and get the ball rolling on a modern dynasty.

It is that moment that left such an indelible mark on the NHL that epitomizes why Fleury is perfect for the big moments.

He’s built for playoff hockey and, while closer to the end of his career than he is to the beginning of it, he still boasts the cold-blooded killer instinct needed to drag a team to ultimate glory in the cutthroat business of the postseason.

So, while Robin Lehner is certainly a nice luxury to have as a backup, Marc-Andre Fleury should be the undisputed starter for the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Playoffs if, and when, hockey returns this year.