Fleury notches NHL-best 7th shutout as Golden Knights beat Ducks 3-0

By Justin Emerson

Friday, March 1, 2019 | 10:04 p.m.

The Golden Knights have had the Anaheim Ducks’ number from the moment they took the ice against each other for the first time, and Friday night at Honda Center was no exception.

William Karlsson, Alex Tuch and Cody Eakin scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury recorded his league-best seventh shutout as the Golden Knights beat Anaheim 3-0, their seventh win in eight all-time meetings.

Vegas has outscored the Ducks 14-3 in those eight games.

Fleury made 34 saves in his first shutout since New Year’s Day. Mark Stone assisted on Karlsson’s goal, his first point as a Golden Knight.

Here are three takeaways from the victory:

March-Andre Fleury

There is one player on the Golden Knights happier than any other to see the calendar page turn. Fleury was 3-5-1 in February with an .892 save percentage and 3.19 goals-against average, eliminating whatever slim Vezina Trophy hopes he had.

Starting March with a shutout is no surprise, considering it is the best month of his career statistically. In the year’s third month, Fleury has a 2.32 goals-against average (best) and .919 save percentage (tied for best).

“He is awesome for us all year, he’s our best player,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said to AT&T SportsNet. “That’s pretty much what we expect from (Fleury) every night now.”

Back on the score sheet

There was a certain theme to the Golden Knights’ goal-scorers: All of them went longer between goals than they would like. Karlsson’s first-period goal was his first since Valentine’s Day, and Tuch had gone scoreless in his last 14 games. Eakin has been blanked in eight straight before his empty-net goal.

This follows Colin Miller scoring for the first time in 24 games on Thursday against Florida and Reilly Smith scoring his second goal of 2019 in the same game. Maybe Ryan Reaves is next? He hasn’t scored since Jan. 6, a span of 22 games.

“A couple guys upstairs were saying I just got to keep working and it will come,” Tuch told AT&T SportsNet. “Honestly I just wanted to come in and back-check hard, fore-check even harder, and try to do whatever it took to get my a team a win tonight, and I was rewarded for it.”

Going streaking

Friday’s win was the Golden Knights’ third in a row, the first time they have done that since winning seven in a row from Dec. 27 to Jan. 8. It is also the fourth winning streak of at least three games this season, and three of them have included wins over the Ducks.

The timing couldn’t be better either. For months the Golden Knights have looked like a lock for the playoffs in the Pacific Division’s third spot, but now fourth-place Arizona is right on their heels. The Coyotes have won five in a row and eight of their last 10 to pull, at times, within four points of Vegas. After the action Friday, Vegas has an eight-point cushion, though the Coyotes have two games in hand.

“It was getting a little frustrating for everybody, so it’s a nice feeling,” Fleury said to AT&T SportsNet. “We were able to get another two points here tonight, so yeah, it’s good.”