If you’re the fussy type, you might object to the word “revenge” in the headline.
It feels wrong to say that Marc-Andre Fleury got “the last laugh” against the Pittsburgh Penguins, being that this game happened in mid-December. So feel free to soften the verbiage; maybe you’d prefer to say that Fleury and the Vegas Golden Knights merely “got the best” of the Penguins.
Either way, round one goes to “MAF.”
It's a bittersweet reunion tonight. 🌼 pic.twitter.com/OBINFGRVxL
— NHL (@NHL) December 15, 2017
The instinct might be to ding this game because it came in Vegas instead of Pittsburgh, but you could say that there was a healthy offering of Penguins fans tonight:
Pretty good ovation for the visitors: pic.twitter.com/3OiKeNTY7u
— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) December 15, 2017
Whatever way you slice it, there was reportedly a fascinating atmosphere in Vegas, even if the game was a bit “low-event” at times, at least when you consider sheer pucks on net; Fleury stopped 24 out of 25 shots on goal while Murray gave up two goals on 26.
This odd-angle goal by Ian Cole was the only puck to beat Fleury, who was lights out in a second straight victory since returning from concussion issues that ... we thought might have been the end of the Golden Knights’ hot start.
If the scene wasn’t nostalgia-laced enough, consider that Fleury evoked the save he made against Nicklas Lidstrom in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final:
So... like we said... seen this one before from Fleury... pic.twitter.com/8lvF4DbLJl
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) December 15, 2017
Sheesh, some of this stuff almost seems on the nose, doesn’t it?
Remarkably, the Golden Knights improve to 20-9-2 while the Penguins fell to 16-14-3. Writing that almost made me pass out from the unlikelihood of it all; honestly, if someone told Golden Knights management that their record could be 16-14-3, they’d probably take it, right?
In case you’re wondering, yes, this marks another record.
The @GoldenKnights established an NHL record for fewest games to reach the 20-win mark by a team in its inaugural season. #NHLStats #PITvsVGK pic.twitter.com/CJUxFcyRFw
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 15, 2017
So, the Golden Knights are 12-2-1 in Vegas so far. This doesn’t guarantee that there’s some sort of ... sickness that comes from playing a team located in Sin City, yet it doesn’t exactly slam the door shut on such a conversation, either.
Now, Marc-Andre Fleury? He’s done quite a commendable job of shutting the door so far for the Golden Knights. His old buddies found out the hard way tonight.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.