In Las Vegas,Marc-Andre Fleury returned to the Golden Knights’ nets and made 28 saves in a 5-1 dusting of the visiting Chicago Blackhawks. on Tuesday night.
It was Fleury’s first game since the passing of his father.
William Karlsson had a goal in Vegas win over Chciago – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“I don’t know if I thought about it (throughout the game) or not. I don’t know how that works,” Fleury said. “He’s been in my thoughts, for sure.”
Fleury had missed five games and then rode the bench as a back up for two games.
Fleury had a shutout going until Dominik Kubalik struck for a power play goal with 27 seconds left in the game.
Reilly Smith and Deryk Engelland combined to give the Knights a quick 2-0 lead.
“Every win is huge, but with what he’s (Fleury) been through the past little while, you want to battle for him,” Golden Knights’ Deryk Engelland said. “Getting back and seeing him do his thing, he came up huge a few times for us tonight. He’s back in fine form, and we’re happy to get him back.”
Max Pacioretty, Ryan Reaves and William Karlsson pushed the lead to 5-0.
“Not happy with our performance,” Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton said. “I thought we got worn down as the game went on. Whether it’s just managing the puck or being sharp in transition, they were better than us tonight. We have got to regroup, get some rest tomorrow, and have a better effort.”
[WATCH:Â All Blackhawks vs. Golden Knights highlights]
Corey Crawford made 32 saves in the loss.
“It’s just unbelievable what our goalies have had to deal with all year with some of these games,” Chicago’s Connor Murphy said. “We hang them out to dry. It’s nice to see [Crawford’s emotion] because it’s a wake-up call for us players to play better in front of them.”
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