Marc-Andre Fleury back at practice after catching up on soaps

DENVER — Marc-Andre Fleury just wanted to catch up on his favorite soap opera.

The Golden Knights goaltender, who rejoined the team Friday after he suffered an undisclosed injury Tuesday against Vancouver, joked that his absence had more to do with daytime TV than his health.

“It was good. ‘Days of Our Lives’ was on all day,” Fleury said. “It was a good marathon. I just sat on the couch and got to enjoy it.”

Fleury left Tuesday’s game after the first period and did not return. He appeared to take a shot from Vancouver’s Brandon Sutter up high midway through the period.

Fleury played coy and stuck to his soap opera story when asked why he was removed from Tuesday’s game.

“I was in net and I just realized that ‘Days of Our Lives’ was coming on. I said, ‘Oh, jeez, I didn’t DVR it,’ ” Fleury said with a smile. “So I had to get undressed and rushed home. My DVR wasn’t working, so I stayed a couple days at home to make sure I wasn’t missing any of it.”

“Sounds good, if he likes that,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “I’d be watching ‘Storage Wars’ or something like that.”

Fleury was given a maintenance day and did not travel with the team before Thursday’s game at San Jose, though Gallant revealed that Malcolm Subban had been slated to play against the Sharks, regardless of Fleury’s status.

Fleury was a full participant during the Knights’ 30-minute skate at Big Bear Ice Arena on Friday, and the team assigned goaltender Oscar Dansk to Chicago of the American Hockey League.

“We knew … he’s going to join us today, so it’s good to see him back and he’s ready to go,” Gallant said.

Gallant said the team would decide later Friday on its starting goaltender for Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche, but all signs point to Fleury being in the net.

“Everything’s back to normal,” Fleury said. “When you miss practice for two days, you get a little rust. But it was good to get back with the boys and have some fun on the ice.”

Hague collects award

Defenseman Nicolas Hague, a second-round pick by the Knights, was named the Ontario Hockey League defenseman of the month for March after he finished the regular season with an 11-game points streak.

Hague posted 12 points in eight games this month for Mississauga and finished as the team’s leading scorer with 78 points (35 goals, 43 assists) in 67 games.

Odds and ends

Defenseman Deryk Engelland and forwards James Neal and Tomas Tatar had maintenance days Friday and did not practice. … Wing Alex Tuch will sign autographs from 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday at Legacy Sports Cards (8125 W. Sahara Ave., No. 160). … Colorado coach Jared Bednar confirmed that goaltender Semyon Varlamov will start against the Knights.

More Golden Knights: Follow all of our Golden Knights coverage online at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @HockeyinVegas on Twitter.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow:@DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.