Ovechkin, Capitals give Fleury his flowers following final meeting

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Alex Ovechkin was unable to move closer to Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal record. Marc-Andre Fleury didn’t even play.

Still, Ovechkin and Fleury shared likely a final moment of respect to cap off 20 seasons of battles following the Minnesota Wild’s 4-2 win against Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.

After the final horn, the Capitals started to head back to the visiting locker room, but Ovechkin, Washington’s captain, skated over to stop his teammates and led them in a line to shake Fleury’s hand at center ice. The 40-year-old goalie plans to retire after this season, so the Capitals won’t see him again unless they face the Wild in the Stanley Cup Final.

“We wanted to do that,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “‘O’ had mentioned that this morning of [being] the last time going up against Marc-Andre and just paying the respects he deserves on the impressive career. He’s done so much. They’ve had so many battles. He’s had so many battles with the Caps, with O.

“So, pretty classy to be able to send him off and just say how impressive a career he had.”

The Wild appreciated the gesture.

“It's awesome to see,” defenseman Jonas Brodin said. “It's fun for him and I am happy for him. He's a great person and one of the best I have ever played with. So, it's pretty cool.”

Although Ovechkin remained at 889 goals, six away from breaking Gretzky’s NHL record of 894, and the Capitals let a 2-1 second period lead slip away, Ovechkin did not forget his plan to honor Fleury, who is second in NHL history with 573 regular-season wins during his 21 seasons in the League with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Vegas Golden Knights, Chicago Blackhawks and Wild.

Fleury got 28 of those wins (28-14-3) against the Capitals, the second most of any goalie against them, behind Martin Brodeur's 40. Ovechkin’s 28 goals in 47 games against Fleury are his most goals and games against any goalie.

The 39-year-old left wing said after Washington’s morning skate that it was “sad” he wouldn’t get one more chance to play against Fleury.

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

Ovechkin feels that way that despite Fleury’s Penguins defeating his Capitals in three Stanley Cup Playoff series (2009, 2016, 2017) and 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.

That might not be Fleury’s best memory, but the respect is mutual.

“I feel lucky I got to play so many games against him,” Fleury said Thursday morning. “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.”

Fleury watched from the bench while Wild teammate Filip Gustavsson made three of his 28 saves against Ovechkin to slow his quest to catch Gretzky. Ovechkin finished with 11 shot attempts, but finding open ice against the defensive attention he received from the Wild was difficult.

Ovechkin had five of his attempts blocked, including two off right circle face-off plays in the third period when the Capitals were trailing 3-2 and pressing for the tying goal.

“I think everyone knows that we’re doing that,” Capitals center Dylan Strome said. “It’s a tough shot to get off. For me, it’s a little easier for me to win the draw against a righty going back that way anyway, but it’s a tough play. It’s a tough play to get through.

“He had a couple looks at it tonight, but, ultimately, it’s our job to either (set a) pick or win it cleaner on his tape and get him the shots through.”

Needing a win to maintain their four-point lead on the St. Louis Blues for the first wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference, the Wild (41-27-5) played with the necessary desperation for the situation. That included embracing the challenge of trying to prevent Ovechkin from scoring.

“Especially right now when it's going for the record,” said Brodin, who stripped Ovechkin from behind to prevent a breakaway in the third period. “It's always fun to try to stop those guys, you know? You get extra motivation. You want to stop those guys because you want to make it hard for them, to make them frustrated.”

The Capitals (47-16-9) have already clinched a playoff berth and are comfortably atop the Eastern Conference after going 9-2-1 in their past 12 games. Carbery said they need to get used to playing in these kinds of tight-checking games, though, as they approach the playoffs.

And Ovechkin will have to find a way to fight through the added attention in Washington’s final 10 games if he’s going to overtake Gretzky this season.

“I thought off the rush (he) had a couple opportunities,” Carbery said. “Moving around a little bit on the power play, (he) had some looks. But this time of year, it’s hard to score goals especially against teams that are right there fighting for their lives.

“They’re going to make it difficult for you, so there’s going to be no freebies the rest of the way for any of our guys, let alone for O.”

Ovechkin’s next chance will come when the Capitals host the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; MNMT, MSG-B, TVAS2, SN360). With 36 goals in 56 games this season (0.64 per game), he is on pace to score his 895th goal in Washington’s regular-season finale at Pittsburgh on April 17.

Ovechkin’s career average of 0.60 goals per game also lines him up to score the record-breaking goal against the Penguins on April 17.

“Had a couple good looks tonight and a couple on the power play, even some backdoors, but ultimately unable to get one through for him and for us,” Strome said. “So, keep grinding and 10 more (games) to go.”