When will Fleury rest? Golden Knights must decide

In the words of coach Pete DeBoer, the book on Marc-Andre Fleury during his Golden Knights career is the goalie plays well when he’s rested and struggles when he’s overworked.

Based on that, DeBoer is facing a difficult choice entering a back to back against the San Jose Sharks that begins Friday at SAP Center in San Jose, California.

Does he continue to start Fleury and risk redlining him a third of the way into the season? Or will DeBoer give the 36-year-old a break during one of the busiest stretches of the schedule when two points are crucial?

Fleury looked as if he was starting to fatigue Monday when he allowed four goals in the second period against Minnesota. He bounced back Wednesday with a 36-save effort to lead the Knights to a 5-1 victory that snapped the Wild’s seven-game point streak.

With Robin Lehner (upper body) sidelined since Feb. 9, Fleury has started 10 consecutive games, the fourth time in his Knights career he’s started that many straight games.

During the team’s inaugural season, he was between the pipes for 11 straight games from Feb. 4, 2018, to Feb. 26, then started 10 in a row from March 2 to 20. The following season, Fleury made 13 straight starts from Nov. 21, 2018, to Dec. 16, and was leading the NHL in starts when he was hurt in mid-March.

He never started more than nine in a row last season when the Knights planned to use Malcolm Subban more often and eventually brought in Lehner at the trade deadline.

This season, Fleury is second in the league in goals-against average (1.71) and save percentage (.939) among goalies with at least eight appearances. He ranks 17th overall in minutes played.

“I feel good,” Fleury said after Wednesday’s victory. “I don’t know. Like I said before, right, the more you play, the less you think out there. You just go out and play, and you don’t think as much.”

The first-place Knights (14-4-1, 29 points) had a day off Thursday before they play six games in the next nine days, all on the road. Along with the back to back against San Jose, they play consecutive games March 12 and 13 at St. Louis to wrap up the trip.

Oscar Dansk served as Fleury’s backup for the series against Minnesota and could be called upon to spell Fleury if Lehner isn’t cleared to travel.

Dansk is 3-1 in his NHL career and appeared in one game last season for the Knights, losing 6-2 at Philadelphia. He won all three of his starts with the Silver Knights last month but hasn’t played since Feb. 27.

Friday’s game will be the first between the bitter rivals since their hotly contested matchup Feb. 13. That encounter featured two incidents that could spill into this weekend’s series.

Knights winger Jonathan Marchessault smashed Sharks defenseman Radim Simek into the boards during the second period and followed up with a cross-check that wasn’t penalized. Simek spent two weeks on injured reserve and returned Feb. 27.

Late in the third period, Reilly Smith and Sharks forward Evander Kane locked horns in a wrestling match. During a postgame TV interview, Knights forward Alex Tuch warned Kane better be “looking over his shoulder.”

The teams were scheduled to play Feb. 25 at San Jose, but the game was postponed the day before when Sharks forward Tomas Hertl was added to the NHL COVID protocol. No makeup date has been announced.

“I think the rivalry is still there,” Knights center William Karlsson said Feb. 24. “They want to win, and we want to win. That’s what I expect. It’s going to be a hard-fought battle.”

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