Fleury declines to answer if he knew agent would post 'backstabbing' photo

On Sunday, Marc-Andre Fleury refused to say whether he was aware his agent was planning to tweet a photo Saturday of his client being stabbed in the back by a sword inscribed with Vegas Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer's name.

One day after Allan Walsh sent his since-deleted tweet, Fleury declined to directly answer questions about whether he had prior knowledge that his representative would post the photo.

Fleury said he requested that Walsh delete the tweet.

"I really appreciated (Walsh’s) passion for the game that he has, and I think this was maybe a way to defend me in that situation," the netminder said. "... I’m here to win with my team, to have success. That’s what matters. Because of that, I asked him to take that picture down, and he did (Sunday) morning, so that's it."

When asked if he had any idea his agent would post the image, Fleury didn't specifically answer the question.

"Like I said, I think we've been talking, right, throughout the playoffs. Obviously, I love playing, I love being in net ... He's been on Twitter for a long time, and he's just trying to protect me a bit."

When asked again to clarify whether Fleury knew about the tweet in advance, the veteran puck-stopper kept his answer brief.

"That's the same question as before," he said.

Fleury later added that he and new Golden Knights starter Robin Lehner have a good relationship.

"Bottom line is we all want to win, that's why we're here," Fleury said. "I don't like being a distraction for my team. I think we're good. I talked with Robin, too. I really like Robin. We have a good friendship, and I think he's a really good goalie also. There's no hard feelings."

Vegas expects Lehner to start Game 1 against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.