This game appeared, initially, to be an easy night at the office for Marc Andre Fleury. He was facing the Vancouver Canucks; they’re not only already eliminated from the playoffs, but have also lost six games in a row and nine of the last 10, and have been shut out in their last three road games. They also have the distinction of scoring two goals or less 37 times this season. They’re ranked 29th overall in goal production.
But what was expected didn’t actually happen. Yes, Vancouver’s offense, in which Fleury faced seven shots, was no real danger—except the one of the shots hit him flush on the face mask portion of his helmet.
The face mask offers ample protection from cuts by pucks traveling at 100 mph offers, but it protect less against the impact a goalie’s brain suffers.
At first, Fleury didn’t seem to be immediately bothered by this shot and I observed him just adjusting the straps on his face mask after the play went to the other end of the ice. On the next whistle, he further adjusted his mask and all seemed to be okay.
But as we now know after many years of ignorance about safety issues when players receive blows to the head, those that have had previous issues tend to be more at risk going forward.
What’s really scary about last night’s injury is it appears to be a mirror image of when Fleury was hurt back on October 13 vs. Detroit. In that game, Fleury was struck by an opposing player who was skating through the crease. His knee hit Fleury on the side of his head. Fleury finished the game in which he surrendered four unanswered goals in the third period to lose 6-3. He didn’t return to the lineup until December after that blow to the head.
If last night’s injury is similar, the hope for a deep playoff run may have been derailed tonight. Concussions are a serious threat to a player’s ability to play and subsequent concussions usually take more recovery time that previous ones. Players’ careers have ended over concussions.
At first the buzz in the press box was that he was being held out to rest him as Vegas scored three first-period goals and against a team like Vancouver, it looked like a good moment to allow backup goalie Malcom Subban some much-needed playing time to work out the rust since he himself was just returning to the lineup for the second time this season.
Post-game, however, that buzz was proven to be inaccurate as Coach Gallant informed us that he was told by the trainers that Fleury would not be returning. If, in fact, he was pulled to rest him, he would at least be sitting on the bench.
This season of many highs and few lows for Vegas has not been without an extremely high injury rate for all the goaltenders. Vegas has played five of them so far this year. That’s almost unheard of because of injuries. Teams certainly go on a merry-go-round of goaltenders when a team is floundering, but if there is one thing that hasn’t plagued Vegas this season, it’s floundering.
Considering their use of third-, fourth, and fifth-string goalies, it’s a miracle that the VGK are where they are today—with just nine games remaining and a sure path to the playoffs.
Second-stringer Malcolm Subban replaced Fleury at the start of the second period. He was playing for the first time since Feb. 2 due to injury; it was his first time at T-Mobile since he beat Toronto on December 31. Subban was perfect in the second, turning away all 11 shots he faced; he went on to stop 11 of the 12 shots he faced in the third.
Vegas as a team appears to have righted the ship; after suffering a four-game losing streak, it’s won the last two. Last night’s game was classic VGK hockey—speed right out of the gate before Vancouver had a moment to catch their breath. Jonathan Marchessault’s goal just 3:56 into the game snapped his 11-game goal- scoring drought and reestablished his scoring lead on the team with his 67th point.
Cody Eakin continued the torrid pace of the game when he scored just 53 seconds after Marchessault’s goal. Eakin used his hand-eye coordination to actually bunt the puck out of mid-air baseball-style. It was Eakin’s 10th goal of the season and it was set up on a nice rush into the zone by Shea Theodore, whose nifty outside- inside move on the Vancouver defenseman created the rebound that Eakin plucked out of the air. I’m critical of Theodore when it needs to be said and I give him kudos when they’re deserved.
The third goal scored in the first came from the checking line, which gets little fanfare, as their role is to usually play against the other team’s top line. But last night’s play came from the hard fore-check from Ryan Reaves, who worked to keep the puck deep in the zone; Nosek then got the puck to Bellemare, whose sixth goal of the season completed the scoring in the first period.
Throughout the season, the VGK have gotten contributions up and down the lineup, even with William Karlsson scoring 39 goals this season. In the first period last night, the scoring came from three different lines. This across-the-board scoring will be required in the playoffs and if Fleury is sidelined beyond the last nine games of the regular season, this becomes even more important.
Tomas Tatar finally got his first goal at T-Mobile, his second as a VGK, and his 18th of the season. He’s starting to look comfortable on the top line, which gives Coach Gallant the ability to reunite the line of Neal, Haula, and Perron.
The only speed bump in the game was that Vegas appeared not to bring any energy into the third period, content with their 4-1 lead. They went more than eight minutes without getting a shot on net and a lot of the time was spent in their defensive zone. This isn’t a good trend. Playing all 200 feet of the ice and all 60 minutes of the game should be the plan. Vegas registered a mere six shots total in the third.
Vegas’ dominance of the Pacific Division continues. Their record is now 18-3-2 in division play. On the flip side, Vancouver’s record in the Pacific is now 6-17-1.
Vegas has scored 133 goals at T-Mobile, the second most home goals scored among the 31 teams. Tampa Bay leads the league with 137 goals scored at home. Overall, TB has scored 264 goals and Vegas is second with 248.
The VGK’s next game is on the road at San Jose tomorrow at 10 p.m. Vegas leads San Jose by 8 points in the Pacific Division. Thursday’s game will be a crucial four-pointer game and with the uncertainty of Fleury, this looms as a big game for Vegas if they want to finish on top of the Pacific Division.
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