*Photo from The Athletic*
If anyone thinks that there is a goalie controversy in Vegas, you can forget about it. Because both goalies put that down when asked about it. Marc-Andre Fleury and Robin Lehner like playing together, as both said during their exit interviews on Saturday.
Lehner said of playing with Fleury that "I’ve played with some really good goaltenders in my career and playing with Marc-Andre is a privilege. We’ve grown a lot closer to each other and it’s been a pretty special couple of seasons here."
The goalies are once again the topic of conversation in Vegas, as last season after they were eliminated, there was speculation that Fleury would be moved in order to get under the salary cap, especially with Lehner having just signed a 5 year extension. They decided to keep both and get under the cap in other ways.
The decision to keep both Fleury and Lehner worked out better than Vegas imagined, as when Lehner went down with an injury part way into the condensed 56 game season, Fleury became a workhorse for Vegas, and his stellar run gave Vegas the West Division lead by a comfortable margin. When Lehner came back, Fleury was happy to return to sharing the net.
Fleury said of playing with Lehner that "Our relationship grew over the season. We got along very good. As goalies, that's something you strive for is winning games, but also not giving up too much. I think both of us, we accomplished that this year."
Both of them also accomplished something else, bringing home the William Jennings trophy this offseason. The Jennings trophy is given annually to the goalie tandem that combines for the fewest goals against average(GAA) of the season. Last season, it was Boston's Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak who took home the trophy.
Fleury and Lehner's partnership may only last one more season, however, as Fleury is in the final season of a 3 year, $21 million extension he signed with Vegas in the summer of 2018. Lehner, meanwhile, is under contract for 4 more years.
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