Golden Knights keep Marc-Andre Fleury fresh by playing well

The Golden Knights have figured out a way to get goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury some extra rest: Play well in front of him.

The Knights allowed 19 shots on goal Sunday in a 3-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks, their fourth-lowest total of the season, and let Fleury sit back and relax in his crease for long stretches of the game.

“When he’s sleeping back there, I feel like I’m doing my job,” defenseman Nate Schmidt said. “It’s fun not needing him in a game. He made some good saves for us, but it’s fun to know our group was playing well enough to keep everything out to the outside.”

Fleury has played well recently with the Knights making things easier on him. The 34-year-old has a career-long shutout streak of 168:43 and is coming off back-to-back shutouts for the sixth time in his career, including the playoffs.

He also was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week a day after his restful Sunday start.

“It’s nice when we get some goals so you can relax,” Fleury said. “I like to have a few (shots), I feel like you’re just more into it. … But some nights it goes like that and you got to find to win those games too.”

Fleury still leads the league in games played (56) by two, starts (56) by three and minutes played (3,335:30) by 215:23, but he’s trying to pace himself. He said he plans to take optional practices off and manage his workload in the gym so he feels fresh.

Fleury allowed at least two goals in 16 straight starts before his shutout streak began Feb. 26 against the Dallas Stars.

“Fleury can take any day off he wants besides the games,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “He feels real good and has lots of jump in his legs. He played a lot of games, but I know he feels great now. People worry about him playing too many games. We come to him and talk to him about that, and he says, ‘I feel good. I want to play the games.’ He gets his rest time some of these days off and he takes care of himself. He’s a true pro, and he knows what he needs more than we know.”

Block part

Schmidt played a large part in Fleury’s easy night as he blocked a season-high five shots.

“Four more than usual,” he joked.

He thought that total might have been a record for him, but he’s blocked five shots three other times in his career and his personal-best is seven. He set that Dec. 14, 2015 while playing for the Washington Capitals.

Canucks deny getting Vegas Flu

The Canucks looked lethargic Sunday and gave up 48 shots on goal, their second-highest total of the season. Forward Bo Horvat insisted it wasn’t because of any non-hockey activities.

“All the guys were really smart here and we know what Vegas is all about, and we knew this game was really important,” Horvat said. “Nobody went out and got crazy or anything like that. It was all business when we came here. We just had to play a lot better than we did.”

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Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.