Marc-Andre Fleury named Golden Knights’ nominee for Masterton Trophy

Marc-Andre Fleury followed one of the most difficult seasons of his career with one of his best.

For that, the Golden Knights goalie is an ideal candidate for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

Fleury was nominated Monday for the award, which goes to “the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey,” by the Las Vegas chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

This is the first time Fleury has been up for the Masterton Trophy during his four seasons with the Knights. He was the Penguins’ nominee for 2016-17 in his final season in Pittsburgh.

The three finalists from the 31 nominees will be announced at a later date, and the winner will be revealed with the other NHL award winners.

“It’s an honor to be chosen by our local PHWA chapter as a Masterton Trophy nominee,” Fleury said. “Everyone has been through a lot during COVID, and that has certainly created some challenges that all players have had to persevere through this season. I’m humbled to represent Vegas and be included with the rest of the nominees.”

Fleury endured personal tragedy last season when his father, Andre, died Nov. 27, 2019. His play suffered, and he finished the regular season with his lowest save percentage (.905) in a decade to go with a modest 2.77 goals-against average.

In the postseason, Fleury played sparingly behind Robin Lehner during the run to the Western Conference Final, and the Knights looked to trade the three-time Stanley Cup champion during the offseason.

But Fleury remained with the team and is a leading candidate for the Vezina Trophy at age 36. He shouldered the load when Lehner was sidelined with a concussion for more than a month and helped put the Knights in position to clinch the West Division title and Presidents’ Trophy.

Fleury trails only Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and Colorado’s Philipp Grubauer for the league lead in victories with 25.

His save percentage of .927 is tied for third with Nashville’s Juuse Saros among goalies with more than 20 appearances, and Fleury’s 2.04 goals-against average ranks fourth.

Defenseman Shea Theodore was the Knights’ nominee in 2020 after he recovered from testicular cancer but was not one of the three finalists.

Lehner won the Masterton Trophy in 2019 with the New York Islanders and delivered a powerful speech describing his struggles with mental health and substance abuse.

Fleury also was named the NHL’s third star of the week Monday after he went 2-0 and surpassed Roberto Luongo for third place on the all-time wins list.

Krebs update

Forward Peyton Krebs suffered a fractured jaw in Saturday’s victory over St. Louis when he was struck by a shot during the second period, general manager Kelly McCrimmon said.

Krebs, 20, underwent surgery and is out indefinitely.

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