David Prior works magic with Golden Knights’ 5 goaltenders

Forget David Copperfield or Penn and Teller. If you’re looking for the real “Magic Man” on the Strip, it’s David Prior.

The Golden Knights goaltending coach has worked with five goalies so far, from veteran Marc-Andre Fleury to 19-year-old Dylan Ferguson. Somehow, the Knights have managed to stay successful in their inaugural season, occupying second place in the Pacific Division with 25 points heading into Wednesday’s game at Anaheim.

“In this case with everyone being cycled through Las Vegas, it has been a bit of a blessing in disguise,” Prior said Monday. “We’ve been able to advance their game training at the NHL level, and it has worked out pretty well.”

Prior said he has dealt with injuries to goalies in his 41 years of coaching, but nothing like this in which a team has utilized five in its first 17 games.

“I can’t say I have,” he said. “But we believed in these players when we signed them. I saw something in them, and so did (general manager) George (McPhee).”

Still, he faced considerable challenges working with four goaltenders who had a total two games of NHL experience, that from Malcolm Subban, in the wake of Fleury’s concussion Oct. 13.

“The method I use and encourage them to play requires a lot of detail, a lot of hard work,” Prior said. “We did a lot of that in training camp, and they’ve done a very good job in embracing it. They had that foundation. But we had to accelerate things once they were playing.”

The well-traveled Prior has been in Washington, Detroit, San Jose, Dallas and Winnipeg. He’s very demanding, and he hands out praise in Scrooge-like fashion. But if he pays you a compliment, you’ve truly earned it.

“He’s tough,” said Maxime Lagace, who started the season in the minors and became the starter after Oscar Dansk was injured Oct. 30. “But he’s great to work with. He knows so much about the position, and he’s really helped me clean up parts of my game.

“He didn’t try to totally change the way I play. It was more like fixing a few things. But I’m definitely better from having worked with him, absolutely.”

Subban, who replaced Fleury as the team’s starter until he got hurt Oct. 21, said Prior really understands what it takes to play the position.

“Every goalie coach has their different style,” he said. “He’s made me feel a lot more confident in the net. That’s one of the biggest things. He wants me to come out and challenge (shooters) more and stay out further and not open up as much. He’s helped me so much already.”

Prior said it’s more about refinement rather than restructuring in his methods of teaching the position.

“You look at what they do and you see the weaknesses and you try to eliminate those weaknesses,” he said.

Prior has been fortunate to work for a coach in Gerard Gallant who gives him the freedom to teach the way he wants and who listens to him when Gallant is seeking input on his goalies.

“I’ve worked for a lot of coaches, and (Gallant) is the best when it comes to allowing me to do my job,” Prior said. “When he asks my advice, I give it to him and he trusts what I’m doing. That’s very important.”

Prior said he’s hoping Fleury and Dansk will return soon. But he has faith in Lagace and Subban to get the job done.

“Max has come a long way in a short time,” he said. “I’m very proud of how quickly he is developing. And Malcolm has a lot of talent and is making his way back. It has been a tough stretch, but we’ve managed to get through it so far.”

Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.