Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Fleury more focused on stopping shots than hyped goalie duel with Price

Fleury

AP

A combination photo of Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, left, and Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

The moment the playoff matchup was decided, goalie fans were beside themselves. The Golden Knights and Canadiens meeting in the postseason was fun for all sorts of reasons, but a head-to-head matchup between two of the best netminders in a generation might be tops among them.

In the gold corner is Marc-Andre Fleury, whose team success is unrivaled with three Stanley Cups but, before this year, few individual honors. In red corner is Carey Price, who has a Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie, a Hart Trophy as the most valuable to his team, and the biggest contract in goaltending history to his name but has never played in a Stanley Cup Final.

Fleury had the edge in Game 1 of the third-round playoff series with a 28-save outing in a 4-1 victory for the Golden Knights.

But Price isn’t going to go away, and despite four goals allowed, still looked very much like the goalie he’s been for the Canadiens this postseason. If Montreal is to win this series, it will need a strong effort from Price, and his next chance is at 6 p.m. today in Game 2 at T-Mobile Arena.

“I’ve watched Price on TV and he’s had some huge games for Montreal, and it’s been a joy to watch, and obviously I’ve had front-row seats for Fleury these past couple of years,” Vegas forward William Karlsson said. “They’re two great goalies, and they bring a lot of ‘show’ to the show.”

Almost immediately after the Golden Knights defeated the Avalanche last round, the league started promoting the battle between two of the most iconic goalies in the last decade-plus in the NHL. A poll on Twitter asking “which goalie would you take?” between the netminders netted almost an even result in 10,000 votes.

In the series opener, it was a goalie battle worthy of the hype.

Fleury got the best of Price in the first meeting, keeping the Golden Knights in the game early on and withstanding a late siege of the net, but Price arguably had the best save of the night. He sniffed out a 2-on-1 coming at his net in the second period, and lunged across the crease to deny Mark Stone, adding a little wink for good measure.

But, of course, a goalie duel is a lot like a quarterback duel: they never actually compete directly with each other. Fleury, a Vezina finalist for the first time in his career after teaming with Robin Lehner to win the Jennings, said as much after Game 1 when asked about facing Price.

“To me I don’t feel like I’m playing against Carey. I have to worry about the shooters and the guys trying to score on me,” Fleury said. “Those are the guys I’ve got to handle and worry about. Carey’s obviously a very good goalie, fun to watch, I thought he made some nice saves tonight, but it was still nice to get a few goals and get the win that way.”

The players don’t necessarily think of it as a matchup of two future Hall of Famers, leaving it up to the league to promote and those who cover it to chronicle. If the Golden Knights steamroll their way through the series like it looks like they might, it will likely be forgotten to history.

But if the Canadiens make this a series, it will likely be because of their goalie, who posted a .935 save percentage and 1.97 goals-against average in the first two rounds of the playoffs, including a 30-save Game 7 victory against Maple Leafs and allowing six total goals in a four-game sweep of the Jets in the second round.

There’s no guarantees of a four-overtime classic like in 1994 between Dominik Hasek and Martin Brodeur, but if there’s two goalies who could do it, they might just be the ones playing in this series.

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