Gerard Gallant didn’t consider pulling Marc-Andre Fleury as another game and perhaps the Vegas Golden Knights‘ Stanley Cup hopes slipped away.The struggles and another pile of Washington Capitals goals are on the entire team. Gallant couldn’t pull all his players at once.”There was nothing that he could have done
Anaheim Ducks T-Shirts Womens ,” Gallant said.As the face of the franchise and its backbone on the ice, Fleury did just about everything to lead the expansion Golden Knights to the Cup Final with a .947 save percentage that made him the playoff MVP front-runner. In four games against Washington, Fleury has allowed 16 goals on 103 shots, a pedestrian .845 save percentage that speaks as much to Vegas crashing back down to earth as a team.There is plenty of blame to pass around for the Golden Knights as they face a 3-1 series deficit that no team since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs has overcome in the final. Vegas needs Fleury to be better and his teammates to improve in front of him in Game 5 on Thursday night or they will watch their opponent celebrate a championship their home ice.”When you’re a goalie you don’t want to get scored on,” Fleury said. ”There was a lot of that (in Game 4). It’s never a good feeling. It’s a team game. Everybody’s trying hard out there, trying to help me out. We’ll find a way to make it work.”It’s not working right now. The Capitals’ strategy of making lateral passes to get Fleury moving side-to-side is proving effective at even strength and on a power play that’s scoring at a 26.7 percent clip.Forward Alex Tuch said staying out of the penalty box is one necessary improvement, but it goes beyond that. Vegas has ridden Fleury to this point and now has to cut down on the high-danger scoring chances he’s facing and too often allowing to turn into goals.”Play better defensively,” Gallant said Tuesday. ”There’s too many guys staring at the puck carrier, and we’re leaving the back side open too much. Make sure we’re paying attention to the guys behind the puck and away from the puck. Marc will make the save on the guy shooting the puck. We’ve just got to make sure we’re taking away the passes.”Fleury didn’t make the save on Devante Smith-Pelly on the doorstep in Game 4 as the Golden Knights fell behind 3-0 despite one of their best periods of the series that featured James Neal’s inexplicable shot off the post facing a wide-open net. As Gallant pointed out, Fleury had little chance on others as Washington put up six goals in a blowout .Golden Knights players can’t help but feel like they’re letting ”Flower” down.”We have the best goalie in the league and he’s been carrying (us) the whole year along and we feel like the goals … there’s not much you can do on those,” center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said. ”This is the frustrating part.”Fleury acknowledged falling behind 3-1 was demoralizing. But the 33-year-old refuses to say fatigue has been a factor for him or his teammates.”I think everybody’s fine,” Fleury said. ”It’s the same for their team, also. They’ve been through the same season, same playoffs. Being tired is no excuse.”The Golden Knights have lost three games in a row as they near the end of an otherwise-charmed inaugural season. Perhaps Fleury has one more stand-on-his head
Anaheim Ducks Hoodies Womens , stop-everything game left in him in front of the home fans in Las Vegas, but the Golden Knights will need more than a singular effort from their goalie.”Not where we want to be, that’s for sure,” Fleury said. ”Nobody’s quitting. We’re going home. We’ve had some success there. We just have to focus on period at a time, you know? Don’t think too far ahead. Just play our game, see where that takes us.”—More Stanley Cup coverage:
https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals— TORONTO – The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Toronto Maple Leafs are close in the standings and they won’t be far away from each other over the next few days, either.The Blue Jackets will visit the Maple Leafs Monday night and the teams will stage a rematch Friday at Columbus.The Blue Jackets (12-6-2) have won three in a row and are 5-0-2 over their past seven games after defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 on the road on Saturday with Cam Atkinson notching his fifth career hat trick and added an assist.Article continues below ...The Maple Leafs (14-6-0) also have won three in a row, sweeping all three games in California including a 2-1 overtime victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. The Maple Leafs opened the trip with a 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Nov. 10.“A long road trip, a lot of games, a good test for us to come out here and measure ourselves so I think we’re happy with the way we played,” said Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, who scored the overtime winner on Friday.The game Monday at Scotiabank Arena should be a test for two teams that are playing well.“It’s a fun place to play, especially how good they are and the offseason addition of (John) Tavares and guys like that,” said Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski
Anaheim Ducks Hats Womens , who scored a goal at Carolina. “It’s fun the way we’re playing, the way they’re playing. It should be a high-paced game.”“We’re confident,” said Atkinson, who has 12 goals this season. “We’re holding on to pucks, our unit especially, making plays when they’re there, not forcing anything and getting pucks to the net and retrieving. Keeping it simple, nothing fancy. Taking what they give us and scoring goals, big goals.”Nick Foligno did not play against Carolina Saturday because of a family matter and his status for Monday is unknown.The Blue Jackets also have had several players, and coach John Tortorella, were affected by an illness over the past week but the worst appears to be over. Tortorella was behind the bench Saturday.Riley Nash, Artemi Panarin and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky missed the 7-3 win over the Florida Panthers Thursday at Nationwide Arena because of illness. They returned for the game Saturday with Panarin notching three assists. Atkinson had missed the 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals Nov. 9 because he was ill.The Maple Leafs will continue to be without center Auston Matthews, who has been out since injuring his shoulder during a victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 27. The Maple Leafs are 6-3-0 since the injury to Matthews.The center, who has 10 goals and six assists in 11 games this season
Custom Anaheim Ducks Jerseys , practiced with the Maple Leafs Sunday but was not involved in any contact. A date has not been set for his return.“For him to be (closer to a return) is motivating,” Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri said. “We have been able to put in some work while he is gone, have been able to hold the fort. When Matts went down, even though he is an important player for us, we did not have a sense of panic at all. We just carried on with our business and that has allowed him to get healthy. He will be able to come back when he is really ready.”The Maple Leafs have been more vulnerable at home this season, going 5-5-0 while going 9-1-0 on the road where they seem more relaxed.The Blue Jackets also have been better on the road, going 7-2-1 compared with 5-4-1 at home.The Maple Leafs have a game at Carolina before they visit the Blue Jackets, who will have three days off before the game Friday.Toronto backup goaltender Garret Sparks played the loss in Boston and the win in Anaheim, which means Frederik Andersen should be in goal against Columbus.“We knew what was at stake,” Sparks said after the game Friday. “We had the opportunity to sweep the (California) road trip and we like winning hockey games as a group, so I think we poured out everything that we had left in the tank for the road here, and it was nice to see that effort was enough to win.”
