Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves and earned his 450th career win in spectacular fashion as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Tuesday night.
With the Golden Knights holding a 3-2 lead late in the game, Fleury delivered a highlight-reel save that had the crowd at T-Mobile Arena buzzing. After Ilya Mikheyev’s shot hit the crossbar, the puck landed perfectly for Nic Petan, who faced an open net from the bottom of the circle. Just as Petan fired a backhand, Fleury made a diving, outstretched stop, snatching the puck from the air and preserving the lead. The save even had some Leafs fans in attendance cheering.
“It was fun. A little lucky ’cause I didn’t stop the first one; it was off the crossbar,” Fleury said. “As a goalie, those are the saves that feel like scoring a goal as a player — they’re the saves I live for.”
Fleury, now just three wins shy of tying Henrik Lundqvist for sixth on the NHL’s all-time wins list, continues to amaze in his 16th season. During the Maple Leafs’ furious third-period push, the veteran netminder also stopped crucial shots by William Nylander, John Tavares, and others.
“He’s pretty incredible when he makes saves like that,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “He’s acrobatic, and he never gives up on the puck.”
William Karlsson, Cody Glass, Tomas Nosek, and Cody Eakin scored for Vegas, but Fleury’s dazzling performance sealed the win for the Knights, who have now won two straight.
For Toronto, Jason Spezza had a goal and an assist, and Zach Hyman added his first goal of the season. Frederik Andersen, who stopped 33 shots, has now lost four consecutive starts. The Leafs, missing star winger Mitch Marner, have lost six straight games and are 0-5-1 without Marner in the lineup.
“We had lots of chances,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “We just have to stick with it and keep grinding. It’s disappointing, but I thought we played harder tonight.”
After a scoreless first period, Cody Glass opened the scoring on a power play midway through the second, capitalizing on a loose puck in the crease after Max Pacioretty’s shot slipped past Andersen. Spezza tied it for Toronto early in the third with a shot past Fleury, but Vegas responded almost immediately.
Tomas Nosek redeemed himself after missing an earlier breakaway opportunity by stealing the puck in the neutral zone and beating Andersen on a breakaway just 42 seconds later to make it 2-1.
Mark Stone added a power-play goal to extend Vegas’ lead to 3-1 before Hyman cut it to 3-2 with 7:13 left. But Eakin’s 100th career goal, into an empty net, secured the win for the Golden Knights.
Game Notes:
- Fleury became the seventh goalie in NHL history to win 450 games.
- Vegas’ Max Pacioretty has at least one point in nine of his last 11 games, while defenseman Nate Schmidt has six points in his last four games, including five assists.
- Toronto’s six-game losing streak is their longest under Mike Babcock since the 2015-16 season.
Up Next:
- Maple Leafs: Continue their six-game road trip in Arizona on Thursday.
- Golden Knights: Host division rival San Jose on Thursday.
