Marc-Andre Fleury’s run with the Vegas Golden Knights was short, but it packed a punch. In four seasons, he won a Vezina Trophy and put up a 2.41 goals-against average, a .917 save percentage and 23 shutouts. For a surefire Hall of Famer, that’s a strong case for a memorable Vegas chapter.
And yet, one thing still hangs over that stint: no Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights. Fleury already had three with the Pittsburgh Penguins alongside Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but Vegas had two real chances to add another in 2018 and 2021. The second one came down to a single mistake.
Game 3 of the 2021 semifinal against the Montreal Canadiens was sitting there for Vegas. The Golden Knights led 2-1 before Fleury misplayed an incoming puck, Josh Anderson jumped on the loose puck to tie it, and then Anderson finished the job with the overtime winner to put Montreal ahead in the series.
From there, Montreal finished the job and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning. That leaves the obvious what-if: if Fleury handles that puck cleanly, does Vegas finish the game, win the series, and keep rolling?
Maybe, maybe not.
Robin Lehner was waiting in the wings, and Golden Knights fans remember what he did in Game 4. He was excellent, stopping 27 of 28 shots. That raises the question of whether Pete DeBoer would have turned to Lehner anyway if Fleury never had the Game 3 blunder.
DeBoer’s history suggests the goaltending decision was never exactly settled. His latest example was the move to pull Jake Oettinger in Game 6 of the 2025 Western Conference Final, a call that was followed by an Edmonton Oilers win and a trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
Even if Vegas had found a way past Montreal, the road still would have been brutal. Fleury was already slipping in the series, with a 2.85 GAA and an .880 save percentage in his last three starts. On the other side was a prime Andrei Vasilevskiy, and the Lightning were loaded with the deepest forward group around.
There’s also the matter of Carey Price, who was flat-out dominant in that semifinal. The source describes him as the San Jose Sharks legend, and he posted a 2.10 GAA and a .933 save percentage in the series. That kind of performance would have made life miserable for Vegas no matter who was in net.
So even if Fleury never mishandles that puck in Game 3, the Golden Knights still had a difficult path ahead. Montreal had a hot goalie, Tampa Bay was waiting on the other side, and Vegas would have needed a lot more than one clean play to turn that season into a championship run.
In Other News...
Golden Knights Bring Back A Familiar Scorer With One Big Catch
Victor Olofsson is coming back to a familiar setup in Vegas after proving he can still help a contender in the right role. The wingers first stint with the Golden Knights last season was productive, as he chipped in 15 goals and 14 assists while adding another layer to a team that went on to win the Pacific Division. His appeal is straightforward enough: he is a shot-first winger who can give a power play a little more punch and force defenses to respect him on the perimeter.
The catch, of course, is that Vegas is not bringing him back for his all-around game. Olofssons offensive touch has long been the selling point, but the concerns around his defensive impact have followed him as well, and that is where the fit gets more complicated. The Golden Knights know exactly what they are getting in a one-year reunion, which makes the decision feel both practical and a little revealing about how they plan to balance scoring upside against the rest of the ice. [Read more 🡒]
George McPhee Finally Addressed A Costly Golden Knights Mess
George McPhee finally weighed in on the mess that cost the Golden Knights both a fine and a second-round draft pick in 2026, and he did not try to minimize it. The president of hockey operations said the organization regrets how the situation unfolded and acknowledged that losing a pick is a real hit for a team that has worked hard to keep its pipeline stocked.
The awkward part for Vegas is how little control the front office had once the issue started to spiral. McPhee and general manager Kelly McCrimmon were reportedly not aware of the decision until it was too late to head off the punishment, leaving the team to absorb the fallout and move on while still dealing with the sting of a costly administrative mistake. [Read more 🡒]