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George McPhee on Marc-Andre Fleury's Return; Tuch Talks 5-Man Forecheck |
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Sheng Peng
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This morning's skatearound was not a routine affair.
After missing Friday's tilt against Winnipeg with a wrist/hand injury, Deryk Engelland will return to the line-up tonight.
David Perron continues to skate in a red no-contact jersey. And of course, Marc-Andre Fleury (kind of) returned to practice. For the second straight day, he was taking shots, staying late with tonight's scratches (Perron, Jon Merrill, Brad Hunt).
Afterwards, George McPhee came out to give updates on Fleury, Perron, William Carrier, and Oscar Dansk. Also, I caught up with Alex Tuch, who broke down the Golden Knights' recent forechecking issues.
Vegas hosts Arizona this evening; they're trying to snap a three-game skid.
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George McPhee: [Marc-Andre Fleury] is past his formal neuro-psychology test. He's currently in the "return to play" protocol. He'll be in net [at practice] this week. And if there are no setbacks, then he will be cleared for full contact later in the week.
Gary Lawless: He's skated with Dave [Prior] and a number of guys the last two days in a row. What's the next step?
GM: To continue doing this. It's the "return to play" protocol. And if there are no setbacks at all, then he'll be cleared hopefully by Wednesday to return to practice. Full contact, which means in our minds, his brain is 100% healed.
GL: The organization and Marc-Andre have been patient with this. You're comfortable with how this has unfolded?
GM: Yes, we've used our specialists. We've sent him to other specialists. Everybody's in agreement. He's in a good place right now.
GL: Marc-Andre is known to be a guy in great shape. If he can return to practice this week, when do you think he might be able to play?
GM: I don't know the answer to that. But the fitness level is really high for him. He's trained hard off the ice for several weeks.
GL: How hard has this been for Marc-Andre?
GM: I don't know. Just so you know, everyone knows, he will avoid distractions at this point. When he's cleared to play and to join the team, everybody can talk to him.
Steve Carp: Any update on David Perron and Will Carrier?
GM: David Perron is doing very well. He's out there, so that's good news. Hopefully, he'll be ready to go later this week. Will Carrier is still injured, don't have a timeline on that.
SinBin.vegas: How about Oscar Dansk?
GM: He's still a little ways away.
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HockeyBuzz: After the last game, you talked about issues on the forecheck. Can you elaborate?
Alex Tuch: I think we've got away from our five-man forecheck. We're forechecking one, two, or three guys really hard. I think we have to forecheck more as a unit. If we do so, I think we turn a lot more pucks over, more chances off turnovers.
HB: When the five-man forecheck is working, what's happening?
AT: Just being really aggressive. Really aggressive forwards and our defensemen coming down the walls and creating turnovers.
I think Colin Miller's done a really good job the last couple games. I think we need everybody to do the same as him.
Even the forwards too, a couple guys might be forechecking, but the third guy is kind of hanging back, waiting for something to happen. We just need to be aggressive.
HB: Why haven't you guys been as aggressive as a unit recently?
AT: There's no rhyme or reason to it. We just have to bear down a little bit.
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