Golden Knights stymied, waste Marc-Andre Fleury’s effort
After all they’ve been through the past two weeks, Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer said Thursday morning his team has become numb to facing adversity.
Such as having to change their starting goaltender at the last minute.
Or wearing metallic gold helmets.
Marc-Andre Fleury was pressed into action on short notice and turned in a strong performance, but got no offensive support in a 1-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena.
“Unfortunate to waste an effort like that,” DeBoer said. “He was our best player, and considering the circumstances of getting the call to go in late tonight, it was a great effort by him, and I know the guys feel they let him down a little bit.”
Goalie Robin Lehner was scratched from his scheduled start and is day to day with an upper-body injury. Lehner was hurt during the morning skate, and Fleury said he received a phone call from goalie coach Mike Rosati about 4 p.m. informing him he was playing.
Fleury made consecutive starts for the first time this season and stopped 27 of 28 shots despite losing for the first time.
He made a fantastic save midway through the second period, reaching back with his glove to deny Ducks forward Isac Lundestrom along the goal line at the end of an odd-man rush.
“I knew I was kind of screwed on that one,” Fleury said. “I just threw my arm back there trying to cover a little something, and I got a little lucky saving that one.”
Fleury also turned away Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf on a breakaway with about 13 minutes remaining.
But he was left stranded with 7:42 to play when Max Comtois was uncovered in the slot and converted a pass from Rickard Rakell.
Comtois has six goals this season, including four in four games against the Knights.
“I think we had a good enough lineup to win the game,” DeBoer said. “The desperation level of a team not being swept in this situation is at an all-time high, and we saw a really desperate team that early in the game we didn’t match their desperation.”
The Knights lost in regulation for the first time at home (7-1-1) and saw their three-game win streak snapped.
Ducks goalie John Gibson, who missed Tuesday’s game after he sustained a facial laceration in practice Monday, finished with 21 saves. He recorded his third shutout, matching the Islanders’ Semyon Varlamov for the NHL lead.
“It’s hard to beat a team four times in a row, and they kind of played with a playoff mentality tonight,” right wing Reilly Smith said. “Just keep things simple and protect the front of the net.”
The Knights’ struggles were understandable considering the events of the previous two days. Forward Tomas Nosek was removed from Tuesday’s game during the second intermission and placed in the NHL’s COVID protocol after testing positive.
The team did not practice Wednesday and welcomed back defenseman Alex Pietrangelo after he missed the past three games to follow COVID protocol, but was without defenseman Shea Theodore (upper body).
Anaheim finished with a 9-4 advantage in high-danger chances, according to NaturalStatTrick.com, and blocked 25 shots as the Knights were shut out for the first time since March 6 at Winnipeg (4-0).
“I don’t know if it was as much about them as it was on us,” Knights captain Mark Stone said. “We didn’t possess the puck enough. … Just didn’t (have) enough jump to get pucks back and didn’t have enough (offensive) zone time because of it.”
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
