Fleury, Vegas shut out Los Angeles in playoff opener

[April 12, 2018]  Marc-Andre Fleury had 30 saves to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in the opening game of their best-of-seven Western Conference first round series of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

It was his 63rd career playoff win and also the 11th career playoff shutout for Fleury, who moved into a tie with Curtis Joseph for 12th place for playoff victories by a goaltender.

Shea Theodore scored the lone goal of the game for Vegas, the third playoff goal of the defenseman's career. He also had a pair with the Anaheim Ducks in 2017.

Jonathan Quick had 27 saves for the Kings.

Theodore gave Vegas a 1-0 lead just 3:23 into the first period when his long wrist shot from near the middle of the blue line found its way through traffic and past Quick's left skate into the net.

The Kings had a chance to tie it early in the second period when James Neal was in the penalty box for tripping Adrian Kempe. Drew Doughty's shot from the top of the left circle caromed off the dasher boards to Dustin Brown who failed to put the bouncing puck into a wide-open net as he skated by.

Midway through the third period, Anze Kopitar had another chance to tie when he came in alone from the right side of the net but his backhand attempt hit the post by Fleury's skate and then bounced onto the back of the net.

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Dion Phaneuf (3) attempts to upend Vegas Golden Knights right wing Alex Tuch (89) during the third period of game one of the first round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Vegas improved to 35-5-2 when scoring first. The two teams combined for 127 hits, including 68 by the Kings.

A standing room only crowd of 18,479, the largest in Vegas franchise history, watched the first-ever Stanley Cup playoff game played in Las Vegas.

Game 2 of the series is Friday night at T-Mobile Arena before the series shifts to Staples Center in Los Angeles for games on Sunday and Tuesday.

--Field Level Media

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