LAS VEGAS -- Veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was endeared by the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vegas Golden Knights fans, and had the admiration of players from both sides Thursday night in an emotional game for him at the T-Mobile Arena.
Fleury, who played 13 seasons with Pittsburgh before his selection by Vegas in the expansion draft in June, made 24 saves against his former team in a 2-1 victory in front of the capacity crowd that had a strong contingent of Penguins fans.
"It really couldn't get any better than this," Fleury said. "I've been around this game for a little bit. That was good. We got the win. It was a close game with only two goals on our side. It was as good as it gets."
Fleury was part of the Penguins' last two Stanley Cup championship teams. Now, he is with the historically successful expansion Golden Knights (20-9-2), who reached the 20-win plateau the fastest for an expansion team in NHL history.
Vegas defenseman Jon Merrill scored the game-winner at 8:17 of the third period for his first goal of the season. Merrill took the drop pass from Erik Haula and beat goaltender Matt Murray low to the glove side.
Murray also made 24 saves for Pittsburgh (16-14-3). The Penguins have lost three consecutive games and four out of the last five with all the defeats by one goal.
"It was a hard-fought game with good chances on both sides," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "I thought the goaltending on both sides was really good. It seems like we are in those type of games night in and night out, but we really haven't found ways to win those."
The Golden Knights got on the board when forward James Neal, another former Penguin, corralled a rebound off a shot by Colin Miller and beat Murray before defenseman Olli Maatta could get in his way. It was Neal's 15th goal of the season.
"It was our biggest win of the year. (Fleury) did a great job; he made some great saves for us," said Neal, Fleury's teammate at Pittsburgh from 2011 to 2014. "He stayed calm throughout the whole thing. I don't know what was going on in his head but he was himself all day and it was good to see."
The Penguins fans along with the Golden Knights faithful, gave Fleury a loud round of applause when he was introduced. In one of the many times he thrilled the crowd, he went 30 feet from the net in the first period to poke away a loose puck from hard-charging Pittsburgh forward Conor Sheary.
"It was crazy," Fleury said of the crowd response. "That was special. It was a very humbling experience, something I'll never forget."
The Penguins tied the game 1-1 at 12:14 of the first period when the Golden Knights could not clear the puck, allowing forward Carl Hagelin to flip the pass to Ian Cole. Fleury could not react in time to Cole's high shot into the net.
Fleury wowed the crowd late in the second period when he dove across the crease to prevent a shot by Brian Dumoulin from finding the net at the left post.
Fleury helped Vegas' third penalty kill of the game with two more saves by the time Merrill (delay of game for smothering the puck with his hand) came out of the box with 2:55 left in the period.
"We're playing the defending champs and we're playing Sidney Crosby and all those top players over there, so it was fun," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "We believed we had to play our best to win and that's exactly what happened. I had fun. I'm sure Fleury was happy to get the game out of the way with a win."
NOTES: Vegas acquired F Ryan Carpenter off waivers from the San Jose Sharks. To make room for Carpenter, the Golden Knights assigned F Stefan Matteau to the American Hockey League's Chicago Wolves. ... Carpenter appeared in 16 games for the San Jose Sharks this season and has recorded one assist. He has spent parts of the last two seasons with the Sharks and has recorded five points (two goals and three assists) to go with six penalty minutes in 28 games. ... Since Nov. 14, Pittsburgh C Sidney Crosby picked up at least one point in 10 of his last 13 games (eight goals, 11 assists and 19 points).
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