Ovechkin looks to get closer to Gretzky vs. Wild, but won’t face Fleury 

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Alex Ovechkin probably won’t get another chance to victimize Marc-Andre Fleury during his relentless pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal record.

Filip Gustavsson will start in goal for the Minnesota Wild, with Fleury backing up, when they host Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday (7:30 ET: Disney+, MNMT, HULU, ESPN+, TVAS-D, SNP, SNE).

Ovechkin, who needs six goals to surpass Gretzky’s total of 894, has scored 28 goals in 47 games against Fleury. That’s Ovechkin’s most goals and most games against any goalie.

“Too many,” Fleury said after the Wild’s morning skate Thursday.

Fleury plans to retire after this, his 21st NHL season, though, So unless Gustavsson doesn’t finish the game Thursday, the 40-year-old likely won’t face Ovechkin again, barring a meeting between the Wild (40-27-5) and Capitals (47-15-9) in the Stanley Cup Final this season.

“Obviously, he’s one of the best goalies to ever play,” Ovechkin said. “It’s kind of sad that he’s not playing tonight because, I hope he’s going to sign one more year but, it was a pretty good battle out there between me and him.”

So, Ovechkin’s power-play goal in the Wild’s 4-3 shootout win at Capital One Arena on Jan. 2, which was the 871st of his career, will likely be the 39-year-old left wing’s last against his longtime foe. Fleury got the last laugh, though, by swatting away Ovechkin’ shootout attempt with his catching glove to clinch Minnesota’s victory that night.

Fleury exchanged signed sticks with Ovechkin, who has an extensive stick collection, after that game.

“I feel lucky I got to play so many games against him,” Fleury said. “Maybe not getting scored on so much by him but it was a good battle. It was good times. Fun. That’s what hockey’s all about. The competitiveness and how exciting it gets. He wants to win; we want to win.

“It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been challenging but fun to play against him.”

Ovechkin, who carries a five-game point streak (three goals, four assists) into the game Thursday, has always had a knack for scoring against the Wild. He has 20 goals in 24 career games against Minnesota, an average of 0.83 goals per game that is his best against any opponent (minimum of five games played). He has 15 goals in 13 games at Xcel Energy Center for a rate of 1.15 goals per game that is his best in any arena (minimum five games).

Ovechkin has scored twice in three games against Gustavsson. Both goals came in Washington’s 7-5 victory at Canadian Tire Centre on Oct. 25, 2021, when Gustavsson was with the Ottawa Senators.

The 26-year-old held Ovechkin without a goal in his each of his two games against him with Minnesota: a 4-2 victory at Washington on Jan. 17, 2023, and a 5-3 victory at Xcel Energy Center on Jan. 23, 2024. But that’s a relatively small sample size.

Fleury and Ovechkin have battled for 20 seasons in the NHL, including the first 12 when Fleury was with the Pittsburgh Penguins before he went to the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. He was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks before the 2021-22 season and then the Wild on March 21, 2022.

“It’s almost 20 years that we play against each other,” Ovechkin said. “Pittsburgh, Vegas, it’s been an honor to play against him.”

Fleury had his share of success against Ovechkin and Washington. His 573 regular-season wins, which are second most in NHL history behind Martin Brodeur’s 691, include 28 against the Capitals (28-14-3). That’s the second most of any goalie against Washington behind Brodeur’s 40.

Fleury also was on the winning side in three Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Capitals (2009, 2016, 2017) with the Penguins, going on to win the Stanley Cup each time. Ovechkin and the Capitals finally broke through and defeated Fleury and the Golden Knights in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final to win their first championship.

Including three goals in the 2018 Cup Final, Ovechkin has scored 13 goals against Fleury in the playoffs, giving him 41 total goals against him, which are the most against any goalie in the NHL’s expansion era (post 1967-68).

“I’m happy about this opportunity to compete with him,” Fleury said. “We’ve had such, especially when I was with Pittsburgh, so many good battles between Pitt and Wash, you know. Face them in the playoffs a couple of times, and the regular season it was always a big rivalry, especially between Sid (Crosby) and Ovi. But those games were always, good teams, and it was fun.

“Those were the games I loved playing because the intensity was always high and the atmosphere in the building, both sides, was always good too.”

If Fleury was disappointed about having to watch Ovechkin play from the Wild bench Thursday, he is happy that he won’t have to worry about him scoring his record-breaking 895th goal against him.

“I had that thought because he could have broken it now, right?” Fleury said. “At one point we thought that maybe. But I definitely didn’t want to be the guy that was going to be on highlights for the next 50 years getting scored on.”

NHL.com Independent Correspondent Jessi Pierce contributed to this report.