Marc-Andre Fleury stops Golden Knights in emotional return

Jonathan Marchessault skated past the crease during a break in the action early in the third period, just close enough to buzz the tower of the opposing goalie.

But whatever the Golden Knights winger said during that fly-by had no effect on Marc-Andre Fleury. Nothing rattled the Blackhawks goaltender once the puck dropped Saturday.

”Just the whole time was very special,” Fleury said.

Making his first appearance in T-Mobile Arena since he was traded from the Knights during the offseason, Fleury recaptured a bit of his old magic in Chicago’s 2-1 victory over his former club.

He made 30 saves, including a leaping stop against winger Evgenii Dadonov with one minute remaining while the Knights had an extra attacker on the ice trying to tie the game.

“Obviously, big night for Flower and big night for their team,” Knights coach Pete DeBoer said. “You knew they were going to give everything they had and empty the tank and their group was going to play really hard for him knowing the meaning of the game for him. We knew that going in. You have to give them credit, starting with him. They played really hard.”

Fleury spent four seasons with the Knights and was the face of the franchise, backstopping the expansion club’s rise toward elite status in the NHL. He received a loud ovation as he stepped onto the ice for warmups, and fans crowded around the glass to show their appreciation.

Before the opening faceoff, Fleury was honored with an emotional video tribute that left the future Hall of Famer with tears in his eyes. The announced crowd of 18,367 chanted his name until the puck was dropped.

Fleury couldn’t stop defenseman Ben Hutton’s shot from the point 5:17 into the first period, but he turned away everything else the Knights threw at him and helped the Blackhawks end a six-game winless skid.

After the final horn, Fleury was greeted by his teammates and saluted the crowd, then headed down the tunnel to the locker room. He became the first goalie to defeat all 32 NHL teams but could only earn the game’s second star.

“Before the game, on the bench, going through my routine in the empty arena, and in warmups, having so many people close to the glass with signs and my jerseys and stuff, it was awesome,” Fleury said. “I’m very lucky and fortunate to still play hockey and do what I love and have the respect of my teammates and the fans and people in the community.”

Here are three takeaways from the game:

1. Lehner’s streak ends

Knights goalie Robin Lehner was facing his former club for the first time since the postseason bubble in 2020 and dropped his first decision since Dec. 1, ending a streak of six straight victories. He allowed two goals on the first 11 shots he saw.

Riley Stillman scored the go-ahead goal for Chicago at 14:21 of the second period when his shot from the point deflected off the skate of Knights forward Brett Howden and past Lehner.

Jujhar Khaira converted an odd-man rush to tie the score 1-1 in the second period moments after Fleury made a series of saves to keep the Knights from adding to their lead.

“We let them off the hook a little bit, played their game,” winger Reilly Smith said. “A little bit too much rush opportunities. Kind of just let them play a track meet. They made some big blocks and did a good job just keeping second chances away from the net.”

2. Hutton ends drought

Hutton’s goal 5:17 into the game was his first of the season. The defenseman hadn’t scored since March 8 against Los Angeles when he was playing for Anaheim.

Nolan Patrick won an offensive zone faceoff back to Hutton, whose shots sailed through traffic and past Fleury to put the Knights ahead 1-0. It was the fourth point in the past six appearances for Hutton.

“I’ve had a few chances to score this year (but) hadn’t found the back of the net,” Hutton said. “Every game I play, each time I feel like I’m gaining more and more confidence.”

Now that Hutton is on the board, that leaves injured defenseman Alec Martinez (11 games) as the lone regular who hasn’t scored this season.

The other players to appear in a game for the Knights this season without scoring are forwards Sven Baertshchi (one game), Pavel Dorofeyev (one game) and Ben Jones (two games) and defenseman Daniil Miromanov (four games).

3. Carrier can’t finish

The Knights’ fourth line has been in flux through the first half of the season and took another hit Saturday.

Left wing William Carrier departed in the first period with 7:26 remaining and did not return because of what the team said was an upper-body injury.

It wasn’t clear how Carrier was injured, and there was no further update on how long he might be out. He was on the ice for the Knights’ first goal and finished with one hit in 3:12 of ice time.

“We didn’t have a lot of juice. That kind of bled into our game,” DeBoer said. “I don’t have a reason for it. It’s been a tough week of hockey, but obviously a big game. We were lacking in the energy across the lineup to get something going. Will Carrier going down early, we missed him. So you’re playing a short bench for most of the night on a night where I didn’t feel we had great legs.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.