Marc-Andre Fleury ‘days away’ from rejoining Golden Knights
Finally, an update on Marc-Andre Fleury’s status.
Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant addressed his No. 1 goaltender’s situation Monday as Fleury continues to recover from a concussion sustained Oct. 13. He is eligible to come off the injured reserve list at any time and Gallant said it’s probably sooner than later for Fleury’s return.
“I think it’s days,” Gallant said after practice at City National Arena. “It’s not this week, but he’s getting better every day.
“When you’re on IR, you don’t expect it to be long term. But again, it’s how he feels daily. He’s going through the (concussion protocol) program and he’s doing pretty well from what I’m hearing. But until he gets on the ice you don’t know. He’s probably four or five days away.”
The most likely scenario? Fleury is activated in time to play on the upcoming road trip next Monday against the New York Islanders or next Tuesday against the Rangers.
General manager George McPhee appears content to play either Maxime Lagace or Oscar Dansk against Chicago on Tuesday night or against Colorado on Friday, then have one of them serve as Fleury’s backup while Malcolm Subban recovers from his lower-body injury suffered last Saturday against St. Louis.
Marchessault return?
Center Jonathan Marchessault said Monday he expects to return to the lineup against the Blackhawks. Marchessault has been on the IR after suffering a lower-body injury Oct. 13 vs. Detroit.
“I feel good and ready to go,” he said following Monday’s practice. “It was kind of a freakish injury. I landed funny but I’m over it.”
Gallant has had Marchessault skating with Reilly Smith and William Karlsson the last two days. Oscar Lindberg, who had been centering that line in Marchessault’s absence, has been working with Brendan Leipsic and Alex Tuch.
If Marchessault is activated, it means a roster move must be made. It could be forward Vadim Shipachyov, who is waiver-exempt. Or it could mean someone is put on waivers, perhaps defenseman Griffin Reinhart, who has yet to play this season and has been a healthy scratch.
McPhee can wait until Tuesday to make any move. The team had no transactions to report as of late Monday.
Reunited in Vegas
Lagace said he and Dansk get along fine and he was glad to rejoin his fellow goalie after the two had played tag this past week backing up Subban.
“It’s great,” Lagace said. “We push each other to get better and he’s a really good goalie.”
The duo shared the Knights net during the preseason in Denver on Sept. 19 when Lagace started against the Colorado Avalanche and Dansk replaced him midway in the second period of what would wind up a 4-1 win for the Knights.
Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.
Chicago Blackhawks
7 p.m., Tuesday, T-Mobile Arena
— The Skinny: The Blackhawks are off to a 5-2-2 start and are in second place in the Central Division. The 32 goals scored by Chicago are third-best in the NHL. Only Tampa Bay (37) and Toronto (36) have scored more.
— Top scorers: Right wing Patrick Kane leads with four goals and 11 points. Left wing Brandon Saad, who was re-acquired by Chicago from Columbus in a June 23 trade, has a team-high six goals. Saad had initially played for the Blackhawks from 2011 to 2015.
— Goaltender: Corey Crawford, 5-2, 1.86 goals-against average, .945 save percentage.
— Coach: Joel Quenneville, 10th season, 431-214-79
— Founded: 1926
— Last Stanley Cup: 2015 (six total)
— Did you know: In Chicago, they don’t sing the national anthem, they cheer it. The tradition goes back to the 1985 playoffs when the crowd cheered and applauded while Wayne Messmer sang. It continues to this day as Jim Cornelison, who has sung the anthem since 2007, performs the anthem for all home games at the United Center.
