Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Golden Knights players careful not to jinx Fleury’s shutout

0318VGKvsCalgary24

Steve Marcus

Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) gets ready for a game against the Calgary Flames at T-Mobile Arena Sunday, March 18, 2018, in Las Vegas. The Knights shut out the Flames 4-0.

Knights Shut Out Flames 4-0

Vegas Golden Knights right wing Ryan Reaves, top, (75) collides with Calgary Flames defenseman TJ Brodie (7) as Vegas Golden Knights left wing Tomas Nosek (92) looks on during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, March 18, 2018, in Las Vegas. Launch slideshow »

Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was spectacular Sunday afternoon, stopping all 42 shots he faced in Vegas’ 4-0 win over the Calgary Flames at T-Mobile Arena.

Fleury sprawled all over the ice, spun in circles at times and made acrobatic save after save to keep the puck out of the net. Once the game end, his teammates could can finally utter the word they avoided mentioning throughout the game: Shutout.

It’s a longstanding superstition for players not to mention the word while the goaltender has a shutout going, similar to a pitcher while throwing a no-hitter in baseball.

“You never mention it,” said William Karlsson, who scored three goals in the win for his second hat trick of the season. “You just don’t do it.”

Most fans don't like the word to be spoken by anyone while the shutout bid is on. Some goalies are more superstitious than others, and Fleury skews to the lesser side.

“I’ve met many different goalies and different types of goalies, but I think Marc is actually really loose,” forward Tomas Tatar said. “I don’t think stuff like that bothers him, but we want to focus on the game not on an individual stat.”

Of all the players on the Golden Knights’ roster, Fleury is the court jester. His ability to execute practical jokes off the ice is legendary amongst NHL players, and on the ice he can often be seen playfully tripping a player at practice, snatching players’ sticks from their hand when they aren’t paying attention.

“He’s a pretty light-hearted guy so you can kind of say anything to him at any time and he’s pretty good,” said defenseman Colin Miller, who scored the eventual game-winning goal on Sunday with a one-timed slap shot from the point. “I don’t know if we’re as superstitious (as the fans). I think you can tell sometimes with Flower when he’s in a groove.”

Fleury found his rhythm early in the win over Calgary, making 20 saves in the first period alone while the Golden Knights’ managed only six.

“He was great,” Miller said. “I mean what more can you say about him? He’s an incredible athlete and a great person. I think there’s no way we would have won that game if he wasn’t as good as he was early.”

Fleury’s most spectacular save of the game (and possibly the season) came during a Flames’ power play in the second period. He lunged to the left of his crease to make a save, but the rebound shot across the net, leaving the net wide-open for Flames’ forward Mikael Backlund.

Backlund threw the puck at the net, but Fleury spun completely backwards and made the save with the back of his leg, facing his own goal mouth.

“I got a little lucky,” Fleury said with a chuckle. “I think I got stuck and couldn’t push, so I just tried to get something there, so I just turned around because I thought it was the quickest way to get there. I got a piece (of the puck) so it was nice.”

Throughout his 14-year career Fleury has made unorthodox saves with regularity. Sunday marked his fourth shutout of the season, and the 48th of his career to move into a tie for 29th all-time and fourth amongst active goalies.

“He was outstanding, especially in the first period,” Gerard Gallant said. “He’s a great goaltender.”

But as great as he is, even Fleury doesn’t believe he’s exempt from the shutout jinx.

“We don’t talk about it,” Fleury said. “I think everybody knows now that we don’t need to talk about it.”

Would it bother him if a player mentioned it to him during the game?

“A little bit,” Fleury said with a smile.

Instead Fleury would rather everyone talk about the Golden Knights’ promotion with Krispy Kreme, which gives every fan with a ticket to the game a dozen donuts every time the team earns a shutout.

“Just talk about the donuts, so we don’t have to talk about the shutout,” Fleury said. “That’s nice of them though, from Krispy Kreme. I really enjoy that. I take pride in trying to get (the fans) the donuts.”

Jesse Granger can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Jesse on Twitter at twitter.com/JesseGranger_.

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