Photo: @walsha
On Saturday afternoon, a night before the Vegas Golden Knights open their second-round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alan Walsh (Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury’s agent) tweeted a photo suggesting the organization stabbed him in the back as a sword with Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer’s name on the top goes through the chest of Fleury.
— Allan Walsh (@walsha) August 22, 2020
The Golden Knights acquired goaltender Robin Lehner from the Chicago Blackhawks at the NHL Trade Deadline on February 24 in exchange for a 2020 second-round pick, goaltender Malcolm Subban, and defensive prospect Slava Demin after Fleury posted just a .906 save percentage and a 2.79 goals-against average through the trade deadline. He started 44 of the team’s 64 games up until that point.
Lehner went 3-0-0 with a .940 save percentage, a 1.67 goals-against average, and one shutout in three games after the trade but the Golden Knights reiterated that Fleury was their guy in goal after making the trade. Head coach Peter DeBoer announced on Saturday that Lehner would start Game 1 on Sunday (10:30 PM ET, NBCSN).
But Fleury has started just two of the Golden Knights’ eight Stanley Cup Playoff and round-robin tournament games, going 2-0-0 with an .886 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average. Meanwhile, Lehner has gone 5-1-0 with a .904 save percentage and a 2.44 goals-against average.
According to several sources: the Golden Knights met with Marc-Andre Fleury this afternoon and are satisfied this will not be an issue as they chase the Stanley Cup. I’d expect Fleury to address this with media tomorrow.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) August 22, 2020
By Harrison Brown
Alan Walsh always seems to be stirring the pot. He did it with Jonathan Drouin when Drouin in was in Tampa.