Fleury fine with competing for starting role in playoffs

Marc-Andre Fleury is welcoming the opportunity to compete for the Vegas Golden Knights' starting role with Robin Lehner.

The club hasn't yet settled on who might start once the playoffs begin.

"(Peter DeBoer) is the coach. Whatever he decides, I'm good with," Fleury told NHL.com's Danny Webster. "At the end of the day, all that matters is winning, that's why we're all here. Playoffs come and you have to be selfless and do what is right for the team. I just want to win, it doesn't matter how it is ... We'll see how it goes."

Fleury has been the Golden Knights' No. 1 goalie since their inaugural season in 2017, but Vegas acquired Lehner - who posted better numbers across the board this season - in a surprise move at the trade deadline.

Lehner only made three appearances with Vegas before the shutdown, winning each of them with a .940 save percentage and 1.67 goals against average.

"It's a great luxury for us," DeBoer said. "I'm not going to be afraid to play either. I don't know what that'll look like. Maybe it'll be one guy starting the majority, or we'll go back and forth. I'm going to keep an open mind on this because of the situation and the fact we have two great goalies."

During the 2016 playoffs with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Fleury was replaced by Matt Murray when the club won the Stanley Cup. He was the backup again when they repeated in 2017.

As the third seed in the Western Conference, Vegas is set to participate in a round robin with the rest of the top four teams to determine their rank in the traditional 16-team playoff bracket. The Golden Knights have an exhibition versus the Arizona Coyotes on July 30, then kick off their round-robin schedule Aug. 3 against the Dallas Stars.

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