1 week Ago By John Shipley / St. Paul Pioneer Press
PITTSBURGH — There were flowers, arranged in a large “29,” waiting for Marc-Andre Fleury at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday night. And during the first TV break, a tribute video recounting his 13 years as the Penguins’ goalie that earned him a standing ovation. Yes, the Penguins and their fans made the Minnesota Wild goalie more than welcome in his final appearance on the ice he called home for 13 years.
And all he did was break their hearts. ADVERTISEMENT Yet when it was over, Fleury was the one in tears. “Told you I was getting soft,” he said.
That’s because after Fleury stopped 26 of 29 shots in a 5-3 victory over the Penguins, a victory that capped a 5-1-1 stretch of road games for the Wild — and dropped Pittsburgh to 0-5-1 in their past six games — the crowd of 18,195 stood an cheered for the goaltender who helped turn the franchise around after being selected first overall in the 2003 entry draft. Playing his 21st and final NHL season, Fleury won’t play here again unless both teams make the Stanley Cup Final, which at this point seems more unlikely for the Penguins than the Wild. “Hard to believe,” Fleury told a throng of reporters after the game while fighting back tears, “but so appreciative from the bottom of my heart .
.. for everybody from over the years.
Oh, God. Nobody else wants to talk?” Freddy Gaudreau scored a pair of goals for the Wild, including the go-ahead goal early in the second period, and Fleury stood on his head at times in a game that threatened to get out of hand a few times. Late in the second period, Fleury used some of his most acrobatic moves during a flurry that ended with “snow angels (and a) little kiss to the post for old time sake,” Fleury said.
After Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan pulled Joel Blomqvist for an extra attacker with a 4-3 deficit and 1:30 remaining, Fleury stopped a shot from Lars Eller with a quick chicken wing before Kirill Kaprizov scored an empty-netter with 18.5 seconds left to seal the victory. ADVERTISEMENT Kaprizov also had two assists for his sixth straight multipoint game, a career best.
Rickard Rakell had two goals, and Sidney Crosby three assists for the Penguins. “Love the way the guys compete and battle,” Fleury said. “It was definitely a stinger to miss the playoffs last year and I feel everybody wants to put that behind us and move forward and do better.
Jakub Lauko and Mats Zuccarello also scored goals, and defenseman Brock Faber got into his first NHL fight for the Wild, who rallied from an early two-goal deficit and bounced back from their only regulation loss of the season, a 7-5 setback last Saturday in Philadelphia. Gaudreau’s two goals were his first of the year, and came after he was promoted to the third line with winger’s Marcus Foligno and Yakov Trenin. More important, they helped his hero, Fleury, leave Pittsburgh on a high.
“I love this guy,” Gaudreau said. “I’ve always said this, but I feel so grateful to have had the very, very big privilege to be his teammate. I’ve been told by players before that he was the best teammate ever, and it’s been proven to me every single day that we showed up to the rink together.
” Faber, who got into a heated argument with Crosby after the two collapsed while fighting for a puck on the boards, echoed those sentiments. As all of Fleury’s teammates do. “I have to say, as a young player in this league, there isn’t a single guy — probably ever — who could be a better role model for a young player in the league,” said Faber, a second-year defenseman.
“The person he is, the player he is; his day-in, day-out habits, the way he treats his teammates, his family, how hard he works.” ADVERTISEMENT Fleury has played for three teams since being left unprotected for the 2017 expansion draft — Vegas, Chicago and Minnesota — but remains the Penguins’ franchise leader in every major category for a goaltender, among them wins (375), playoff wins (62), shutouts (44), playoff shutouts (10) and saves (17,774). And he remains beloved in Pittsburgh, even after he beat the Penguins for the sixth time in his career (6-4-0) cheered off the ice by a crowd that remained largely intact to watch him leave the ice here for the last time.
Thirteen years and three Stanley Cups will do that. “(Winning) definitely makes it more fun for me,” he said. “I’ve had a few tough games here, and I don’t know.
It feels so weird, so, I don’t know. Not comfortable, right? Family was here, friends were here. I’ve got lots of great memories from here, so it means a lot.
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