Golden Knights’ Fleury shakes off injury, rust for Sharks

For two days in February, local residents flipped out as storms dumped a few inches of snow across the Las Vegas Valley.

The rare winter precipitation shut down highways, delayed flights in and out of McCarran International Airport and even forced the Clark County School District to cancel classes.

But then came the Jerry Maguire-style freakout that took place a month later when Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was sidelined.

Fleury, who was key to the Knights’ run to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season, returned from his lower-body injury with less than a week remaining in the regular season and started the final two games.

Whether that was enough time for the 34-year-old to regain his form will be a major talking point of the Knights’ Western Conference quarterfinal series against the San Jose Sharks.

“I thought it was good. I’m lucky I got to play those games,” Fleury said. “Obviously, we didn’t win, but I had a lot of shots, so I think it was good to get the feeling back a bit. There are things I still want to get better, but we’ve got a few practices in before we get going.”

Fleury started 59 of the first 71 games and was on pace for a career high in appearances until he suddenly was shelved following a 40-save effort in a 2-1 victory at Dallas on March 15.

The timing of the injury set off alarm bells, since Fleury was on a personal six-game win streak and the Knights were in the midst of a stretch that eventually saw them win 10 of 11 after the trade deadline.

Fleury’s wife, Veronique, also gave birth to the couple’s third child on March 22, adding fodder to the conspiracy theories.

With each passing day that Fleury did not practice, coach Gerard Gallant quelled fears about the goaltender’s health and whether he would be ready for the postseason.

“Not worried about it,” Gallant said March 20.

“No, not concerned,” he said March 29. “It’s not a long-term thing.”

Finally, on April 1: “We’re all good.”

Fleury didn’t get much help from his teammates in his first game back April 4 and finished with 37 saves in a 4-1 loss to Arizona.

He had 27 stops and allowed four goals in a 5-2 loss at Los Angeles on April 6 to close out the regular season.

“I think it’s just the speed of the game probably,” Fleury said after the loss to the Coyotes. “You can practice a lot or work out, but it’s never like a game. I think just trying to find pucks through traffic, guys crashing the net, trying to battle to see it or make a save on a rebound. Just little things that come back with time.”

Fleury’s late-season injury and lost games likely hurt his Vezina Trophy candidacy. He finished 35-21-5 with a 2.51 goals-against average and .913 save percentage to go with eight shutouts.

But he remained confident he will shake off any rust before Game 1 on Wednesday at SAP Center.

“I thought those last two games were good for me to get that game timing back a bit and maybe some traffic and stuff,” Fleury said. “I don’t feel too worried.”

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