EDMONTON -- Marc-Andre Fleury may have conceded one of the worst goals of his NHL career against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Thursday, but the Minnesota Wild goalie was able to joke about it following a 5-3 win that saw him move into third place on the list of games played by an NHL goalie.
The 39-year-old played his 1,030th NHL game Thursday, passing Patrick Roy (1,029) while moving 14 behind Roberto Luongo (1,044) for second all time. The leader is Martin Brodeur at 1,266. It was also Fleury's 1,000th start, making him the fourth fastest goalie to hit that mark, behind Brodeur (1,251), Luongo (1,014) and Roy (1,003).
“I just feel very fortunate, lucky that I was able to stick around for that long and do what I love for so long,” Fleury said. “I got help obviously, I’ve had people help me stay loose and flexible and all that, staying healthy. I’m very fortunate to still do it.”
Selected No. 1 by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2003 NHL Draft, Fleury is in his 21st and likely final NHL season. Growing up in Quebec watching Roy play for the Montreal Canadiens, Fleury never imagined surpassing the Hockey Hall of Fame goalie in games played.
“I never thought I would make it to the NHL, honestly,” Fleury said. “Patrick and Marty for me are the best goalies that have played the game and obviously, I look up to them.”
Fleury has plenty of admirers himself. A fan favorite everywhere he’s been, Fleury played his first 691 games for Pittsburgh, helping the Penguins win the Stanley Cup three times (2009, 2016, 2017). He was left unprotected by the Penguins in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft and was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights, who he helped lead to the Stanley Cup Final in his first of four seasons there, playing 192 games and winning the Vezina Trophy as the League’s best goalie in 2020-21.
He was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks after the 2020-21 season and played 45 games there before being traded to the Wild on March 21, 2022. He has played 102 games with the Wild, including five this season as Filip Gustavsson’s backup.
“He’s unbelievable, he’s always got the right attitude,” Wild forward Marcus Johansson said. “He’s always happy and smiling on the ice, and I think he makes everyone better because he competes. He wants to stop every puck in practice and his compete raises everyone else’s compete too. He’s a great leader in this room.”
Fleury finished with 28 saves against Edmonton to earn his fourth consecutive win and improve to 4-0-1 this season. The game got off to a bad start for Fleury, who went to sweep a puck shot down the ice by Leon Draisaitl only to have it bounce over his stick and between his pads 27 seconds into the game. Fleury was starting for the first time since a 5-2 win at the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 7.
“I haven’t played in so long, I wanted to do well and help the team and at the beginning to let that one in, I was mad for a little bit and then I just laughed, it was so stupid,” Fleury said. “The guys came by and they gave me a tap and they laughed and kind of made it a little lighter.”
Fleury, known to be one of the best practical jokers in the NHL, shook off the bad goal and then had some fun with the fans after he turned away another long dump in, jokingly putting his arms in the air as they cheered. It epitomized his laid-back approach and is just one of the many reasons he is beloved by his teammates and respected around the League.
“Yeah, I did a little celly to let the boys know I got it and we were good,” Fleury said. “But they were fine. “[The goal] was so dumb. I was mad for a while and then tried to move on quick and laugh about it too, because it was so stupid of a goal, but the guys were awesome. Nobody panicked.”
After that, Fleury settled in. He even made an old-school poke check on Oilers captain Connor McDavid on a breakaway in the second period to keep the Wild in the lead.
“I wanted to keep him guessing,” Fleury said. “He’s so fast, his hands are so fast, I didn’t want him to make a move, so I thought I should go at him and it worked out.”
The Wild wanted to win the game for Fleury, who has an NHL career record of 565-330-95, with two ties, a 2.60 goals-against-average, .912 save percentage and 75 shutouts.