Marc-Andre Fleury earns 489th win in Knights’ OT win over Coyotes
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Marc-Andre Fleury eventually reached another milestone Saturday.
The Golden Knights goaltender had to work a little extra to get there, though.
Jonathan Marchessault scored with 1:56 remaining in overtime after the Knights blew a two-goal lead and Fleury moved into a tie for third on the all-time wins list with a 3-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.
“There won’t be a party or something like that,” Fleury said. “It’s still a bit surreal I think to have my name there with these guys. Maybe one day I’ll sit down and think about it and reflect on my career. For now, it’s a good win.”
The Knights (36-12-2, 74 points) bounced back after their 10-game winning streak was snapped Friday and maintained a four-point advantage over second-place Colorado in the West Division.
Mark Stone notched his 20th goal in the second period, and William Karlsson scored in the first to ignite the announced pro-Knights crowd of 5,671.
Fleury earned career win No. 489, matching Roberto Luongo for third in NHL history. The Vezina Trophy candidate could have three more cracks at overtaking Luongo before the regular season ends.
“I’ve been lucky to be playing for a long time,” Fleury said. “I still like doing it. I don’t know what else I can do in life that will bring me the same satisfaction of playing hockey and winning games.”
The Knights were coasting in the third period before Arizona’s Christian Fischer pounced on a loose puck in the slot and scored midway through the third period to cut the Knights’ lead to 2-1.
Christian Dvorak converted on a power play with 5:12 remaining in the third period to tie the score at 2. The Knights had successfully killed 21 straight power plays before the goal.
But the Knights’ power play came through in the extra session after Arizona was penalized for too many men.
Marchessault took a feed from defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and ripped a one-timer from the left circle for his 15th goal to dent the Coyotes’ postseason hopes.
The Knights are 7-0 in games that have been decided in overtime.
“You’ve got to give them credit for coming back,” Karlsson said. “You want to try to win every game here at the end. There’s teams trying to catch up. To get a win here tonight was huge.”
Marchessault returned to the lineup after a one-game absence, but the Knights played the third period without leading goal scorer Max Pacioretty, who left with an undisclosed injury.
A night after they had difficulty generating offense during Friday’s shutout loss, the Knights controlled the first period in the series finale.
Fleury faced three shots on goal, matching the season low for shots allowed in a period, while the Knights repeatedly tested Arizona goalie Darcy Kuemper.
Marchessault hit the crossbar on a power play midway through the period and set up the opening goal soon after.
Karlsson was lurking near the crease and deflected in Marchessault’s pass for his 14th goal at 10:15.
“If we hadn’t gotten the two points I would’ve been disappointed, but I was really happy to see us get our game back, starting in the first period,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “Get back to the way we’re capable of playing.”
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
