Marc-Andre Fleury stellar in Golden Knights’ OT win
SAN JOSE, Calif. — How often is Marc-Andre Fleury going to have to bail the Golden Knights out?
As often as necessary.
The 33-year-old veteran goaltender again showed why he is a three-time Stanley Cup winner. He held the San Jose Sharks at bay until his teammates could get their collective game out of first gear in leading the Knights to a 4-3 overtime win in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinals.
The Knights lead the series 2-1 heading into Game 4 at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Fleury stopped 39 of the 42 shots he faced. His best was in overtime as he robbed Logan Couture with a glove save on a point-blank shot at 3:10.
“I was looking at the guy with the puck a little more and I had a little bit of time to react to it. It was a good save,” Fleury said.
He was spectacular in the middle of the first period. The Sharks were making a strong push to take the lead and had several great chances. He robbed Tomas Hertl in front, then stopped Chris Tierney from the left side, and followed that up by denying Mikel Boedker.
“We knew they were going to come out hard,” Fleury said. “This is a tough building to play in. I just tried to keep it cool and keep it tight.”
His teammates aren’t surprised.
“He saved us again,” defenseman Colin Miller said. “(Fleury) was amazing. But we’ve got to be better in front of him.”
Forward Jonathan Marchessault said: “Right now, we expect that from him. He was unbelievable with that save in overtime. I think Couture is going to be thinking about that one a few times. That got us going and we were able to get the goal to win it.
“He kept us in it during the first period. They put a lot of pressure on us and he was there for us.”
The Sharks had 16 shots in the first period and it wasn’t until their 27th when they finally solved Fleury. Timo Maier took a nice cross-ice feed from Tierney on a power play with Will Carrier off for tripping. Meier was quicker on the shot before Fleury could get to the left post for a 1-0 Sharks lead.
The Knights responded with three unanswered scores from Colin Miller and Jonathan Marchessault, both coming on the power play, then an even-strength goal by Reilly Smith to stake Fleury to a 3-1 lead going into the third period.
But Evander Kane scored 7:49 into the third period after the Sharks failed to convert on the power play. Logan Couture screened Fleury as Kane’s wrist shot from the right face-off circle whizzed by him to cut it to 3-2.
The Knights challenged, claiming Couture interfered with Fleury. But after the NHL reviewed it, the goal stood and the Knights would need Fleury more than ever.
He came through big-time with just over five minutes remaining as Kane was alone in front and Fleury stopped him to keep it a one-goal game. But he was unable to thwart the Sharks late as Hertl scored off a mad scramble in front of Fleury’s crease with 1:58 to play as San Jose tied it 3-3.
But his stop on Couture in overtime gave his team new life, and William Karlsson’s game-winner at 8:17 gave Fleury his sixth win of the playoffs.
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Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.
