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The Minnesota Wild honored Marc-Andre Fleury with a pregame ceremony ahead of their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, his former team. Fleury hit a pair of major milestones last month, and he got to celebrate those achievements with some old teammates by his side.
On New Year’s Eve, Fleury played in his 1,000th NHL game. Just a couple weeks later, on Jan. 15, Fleury passed the great Patrick Roy on the NHL’s all-time wins list with his 552nd victory. With the Penguins in town on Friday, the Wild honored him for both of those accomplishments.
Before the teams took the ice, Sidney Crosby presented Fleury with a gift from the Penguins, a painting of Fleury with the four teams he has played for throughout his career.
Prior to the puck drop at Xcel Center, the Wild played a tribute video that included messages from Crosby, Wild teammate Filip Gustavsson, Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur, Fleury’s children and more. It was an emotional moment for one of the most well-respected players in the league.
In the game itself, Fleury added win No. 553 to his resume. The Wild had a 3-2 lead over the Penguins late in the third period when Fleury made a series of outstanding saves to preserve the win for Minnesota. The entire crowd was on its feet as Fleury capped off another career highlight.
Fleury has now played in 1,009 career games – 691 of those were with the Penguins, and 81 have been with the Wild. Fleury won the Stanley Cup three times while in Pittsburgh, and he took the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018. Fleury has four All-Star appearances and a Vezina Trophy to his name to go along with a career GAA of 2.59 and a .912 save percentage.