Golden Knights Victorious In Second Fleury Return Game

The Vegas Golden Knights (47-22-7, 101 points) surpassed 100 points in their victory over the Minnesota Wild (44-23-9, 97 points) and former teammate Marc-Andre Fleury. Teddy Blueger went back into the lineup, forcing Pavel Dorofeyev out, and Laurent Brossoit got the start.

Here's how it went down.

FIRST PERIOD

• MIN PP- After a rush into the offensive zone, Jonathan Marchessault hooked a player behind the play.
• Mason Shaw collided into the end boards near the Wild's net and twisted up his legs. He left the game and did not return.
• 1-0 MIN GOAL- John Klingberg shot a puck from the blue line that just bounced in off Matt Boldy.
• It took the Golden Knights over seven minutes to land their first shot of the game on Marc-Andre Fleury.
• On a nice passing play, Jonathan Marchessault accepted the puck in the slot but aired it over the cage.
• 4 on 4- A scrum ensued between the benches, with William Karlsson and Joel Eriksson Ek going to the box after the dust settled.
• The game continued to have an edge to it with several big hits and post-whistle scrums.
• 1-1 VGK GOAL- Jack Eichel gained separation and found Ben Hutton in the slot, who once again scored on Marc-Andre Fleury.

• Brandon Duhaime accepted a pass in the slot and made a couple of slick moves to get a decent shot on Laurent Brossoit.
• 2-1 VGK GOAL- Right off the faceoff, Zach Whitecloud's wrist shot had eyes and sped to the back of the net for the go-ahead goal.

SECOND PERIOD

• Jack Eichel shot a stretch pass to the stick of Ivan Barbashev, who went in on a breakaway but was stopped by Marc-Andre Fleury.
• 3-1 VGK GOAL- Right after the aforementioned play, Ivan Barbashev found Brett Howden cutting to the slot, and he scored.

• William Karlsson tried to cheekily sneak in a goal from behind the goal line, but Marc-Andre Fleury was able to seal his post in time.
• Laurent Brossoit made a strong glove save on Joel Eriksson Ek roughly midway through the period and game.
• VGK PP- Ryan Hartman was called for hooking Phil Kessel, which gave the VGK their first powerplay of the game.
• Nicolas Roy took a puck to the face, left the ice for repairs, and then returned without missing a shift.
• VGK PP- Chandler Stephenson was tripped up pretty obviously by Jake Middleton, who went to the box.
• 4 on 4- With 30 seconds left on the powerplay, Nicolas Roy made it 4 on 4, taking a holding penalty.
• Out of the box, Nicolas Roy and Jack Eichel raced off on a 2 on 1 but were denied in their scoring attempt.

THIRD PERIOD

• Ryan Reaves had a great chance in the slot, but Laurent Brossoit came up with a huge save on the noted goal scorer. 
• On another Wild chance, they hit the post at a weird angle, resulting in the puck kicking back quickly in a weird manner.
• Ivan Barbashev found Jack Eichel in the slot for a chance, but Marc-Andre Fleury made the stop.
• Brayden McNabb pinched on the play to get a shot on Marc-Andre Fleury, who made a cat-like glove save for show.
• Phil Kessel was stopped two times on one shift by Marc-Andre Fleury. One on a breakaway shot, the other a side-to-side stop.
• 4-1 VGK GOAL- The Wild pulled Marc-Andre Fleury with 3:36 left in regulation for the extra attacker. Chandler Stephenson would add an ENG later.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS NOTES

• In his second return to T-Mobile Arena, Marc-Andre Fleury allowed three goals and put up a .912 save percentage.
• Ben Hutton has now scored a goal in both of Fleury's two return games to T-Mobile Arena.
• The Golden Knights have surpassed the 100-point mark for the second time in their history, with year one marking the only other time.
• With an assist, Alex Pietrangelo hit the 50-point mark on the season for the first time in his VGK career and first since 2019-20.
• It was a very physical game with several big hits and post-whistle scrums and a playoff feel to it. Combined, there were 61 hits.
• Although he didn't play due to injury, happy 32nd birthday to Golden Knight's forward, Reilly Smith.
• Elsewhere in the league, the Stars, Kings, and Wild (obviously) failed to clinch a playoff spot, but the Edmonton Oilers did.

VHN's Player of the Game: Ben Hutton, because when else can we have him as our POTG?

Up Next: The Golden Knights will play the Wild once more on Monday at 7:00 p.m. from Minnesota.