Golden Knights report: Marc-Andre Fleury’s pranks stay under wraps

Golden Knights vs. Blackhawks

Blackhawks win 2-1

RJ’s three stars

■ 3. Knights defenseman Ben Hutton — He scored his first goal with the Knights and his first in the NHL since March 8. He has four points in his past six games.

■ 2. Blackhawks center Jujhar Khaira — He beat goaltender Robin Lehner with a sharp wrist shot on a 2-on-1 in the second period. He has three goals and no assists in 23 games.

■ 1. Blackhawks goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury — He made 30 saves in his first game against his former team for the 502nd win of his Hall of Fame career. He made a key save late on right wing Evgenii Dadonov.

Key play

Blackhawks defenseman Riley Stillman’s game-winning goal.

The play started with a turnover in the defensive zone for the Knights that was picked up by Blackhawks forward Dylan Strome. He passed the puck to Stillman, who fired a wrist shot from above the faceoff circles.

Stillman’s shot, headed toward the middle of the crease, deflected off Knights center Brett Howden at the top of the circle on its way to the net. It changed direction and got past Lehner short side for Stillman’s first goal of the season.

It was his second goal in 79 NHL games.

Key stat

Three — The number of times the Knights had scored one goal or fewer before Saturday’s game.

They were previously shut out Oct. 24 against the New York Islanders and Nov. 2 in Toronto. They scored once Oct. 20 against the St. Louis Blues. The Knights had scored two or more every other game, and their average of 3.54 goals per game ranked fourth in the NHL.

Fleury and the Blackhawks shut them down in Game 38. Fleury’s .969 save percentage was his fourth highest of the season in 23 starts.

Knights mum on pranks

Fleury is famous (or infamous) for the pranks he’s pulled on teammates throughout his career.

The Knights still aren’t ready to talk about what he pulled in Las Vegas. Defenseman Shea Theodore pleaded the fifth Saturday when asked if he was ever victimized by Fleury.

“I think I was,” Theodore said. “I still have a couple suspicions, but I guess I’ll just leave it at that.”

Fleury’s status as a prankster is so entrenched that Knights captain Mark Stone said his former teammate was once framed for an act he didn’t commit. Stone later figured out the deception.

“I thought I was (pranked by Fleury),” Stone said. “But I got to the bottom of it.”

Knights’ next 10

■ Vs. Maple Leafs, 7 p.m. Tuesday

■ Vs. Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. Jan. 17

■ Vs. Montreal, 7 p.m. Jan. 20

■ At Washington, 4 p.m. Jan. 24

■ At Carolina, 4 p.m. Jan. 25

■ At Florida, 4 p.m. Jan. 27

■ At Tampa Bay, 4 p.m. Jan. 29

■ Vs. Buffalo, 7 p.m. Feb. 1

■ At Arizona, 6:30 p.m. Feb. 25

■ Vs. Colorado, 7 p.m. Feb. 26