Golden Knights’ Fleury closes in on 400 NHL career victories
Marc-Andre Fleury wasn’t even aware he was close to a milestone.
The Golden Knights goaltender is four victories away from 400 career wins in the NHL. Fleury said Sunday that his focus is on trying to obtain win No. 397 on Monday against the Los Angeles Kings.
“How many wins do I have?” Fleury asked. “It’s pretty cool if and when it happens.
“Wins are good. It means the team is having success. But you want to stay even-keeled and not look too far ahead. Just stay in the moment.”
With 396 wins in 721 games played over 13-plus seasons, Fleury ranks No. 13 on the NHL’s all-time wins list. Chris Osgood is 12th with 401 wins. Martin Brodeur is the career leader with 691.
“A lot of those guys (with 400 or more wins) are guys I looked up to, so to be part of that group would be something very special,” Fleury said.
More milestones
Forward David Perron is one point away from his career-best season. Perron had a goal and an assist in Friday’s 6-3 win over Vancouver to give him 57 points. In 2013-14, with Edmonton, Perron scored 28 goals and had 29 assists for 57 points.
This season, Perron has established a career high for assists with 42. He has scored 15 goals to get to 57 points with 21 games remaining.
Reilly Smith also is closing in on a milestone, as the forward is four goals from 100 for his career. Smith has 20 goals this season and is one of five Knights players to have scored 20 or more. William Karlsson leads the team with 33.
Neal, Theodore practice
Forward James Neal and defenseman Shea Theodore took part in Sunday’s practice at City National Arena and were expected to come off the injured-reserve list in time for Monday’s game.
Both have been battling illnesses the past couple of weeks, with Neal missing three games with the flu and Theodore four games with a sore throat.
In addition, center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare skated on his own prior to practice Sunday, as did right wing Will Carrier. Both are on the IR with upper-body injuries.
Coffey ‘tribute’
Coach Gerard Gallant was greeted Sunday at practice by all his defensemen wearing the name “Coffey” on the backs of their jerseys in a response to Gallant airing out his defense between periods Friday.
“It was probably a Paul Coffey comment I made after the first period and they probably didn’t think it was so positive,” Gallant said.
The defensemen all played coy.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Deryk Engelland said with a wry smile.
Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.
