Fleury shines, soaks up love from fans in Penguins farewell

PITTSBURGH -- “Fleury, Fleury, Fleury.”

“One more year. One more year.”

“Thank you, Fleury. Thank you, Fleury.”

Marc-Andre Fleury heard the loud chants from the fans at PPG Paints Arena, but they were not enough to disturb his concentration in his farewell game with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

After being seated at the end of the Penguins bench for the first two periods of a preseason game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Fleury jumped onto the ice for the start of the third period with Pittsburgh leading 2-1. Even though the final result was unimportant, No. 29 remained a proud man. Like a closer taking the mound in the ninth inning, he wanted to protect the one-goal lead to win it for the Penguins.

And that’s exactly what he did. Fleury stopped all eight shots he faced in the third to help the Penguins to a 4-1 victory.

“I didn’t want to cost them the game,” the 40-year-old said while he wiped himself with a towel. “I didn’t want to give up six goals and look like an idiot. It ends well. I was really happy that I didn’t embarrass myself too much.”

For the final moments of the game, Penguins coach Dan Muse sent Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson onto the ice. With a bit less than 10 seconds left to play, Letang ran out the clock passing the puck with Fleury.

When the final siren sounded, Crosby, Letang and Malkin gave one last hug to their good friend in the goal crease to the crowd’s applause.

“We’ve played a lot of games and many seasons together,” said Fleury, who was overwhelmed with emotions. “We won together. I was lucky to get to live this one more time and share this moment with them.”

In another corner of the dressing room, Crosby also described the final act.

“We were just really smiling, we were just happy,” the Penguins captain said. “It’s just one of those things that you don’t expect to get the chance to do. It doesn’t always work out that way. And for him to still be playing at the level he is and to accept to do this. You know some guys wouldn’t accept to do this and I think it was him that wanted the shootout. He wanted the breakaways. That’s the thing about him, there’s never too many shots. It’s never enough and that passion has always been there.”

Fleury, who had announced that last season, spent with the Minnesota Wild, would be his last in the NHL, signed a professional tryout contract on Sept. 12 in order to play the preseason game and took advantage of every moment of his final lap in Pittsburgh.

“I might be sore when I wake up tomorrow, but it was worth it,” he said.

The Penguins and the Blue Jackets agreed before the game to take part in a shootout regardless of the final result. Fleury stopped Yegor Chinakhov and Cole Sillinger, but he was fooled by a nice move by Luca Del Bel Belluz.

At the other end of the ice, Elvis Merzlikins turned aside Letang, Crosby and Malkin.

After this shootout that settled nothing, Fleury took off his mask and did a short lap on the ice to salute his fans one last time.

“I felt a little bad, it feels like it’s the fourth time that I’ve said goodbye to them and thank you,” Fleury said, laughing. “I could not turn down the invitation to come and play with them one more time. And even practicing with them. There was atmosphere even during the warmup. During the game I stopped a dump-in and the fans were cheering for me. I was like, ‘Whoa.’ I didn’t do anything spectacular. I kept it simple.”

Like in the Penguins’ glory years, Crosby and Fleury shared the spotlight in this win. Crosby led the offense with a goal and two assists in his first preseason game.

“We wanted to win for him,” Crosby said. “We were down 1-0 and it was nice to get on the board. It’s a little weird when you’re playing your last game, you think, against him. You want to score but you also want to enjoy the night. So it’s a little different feeling than having him on the same side and being able to share all those little moments. And obviously it was nice to score.

“It felt like a playoff game,” the 38-year-old center added. “And then just to come back, all of us who have experienced being a part of it here with what he’s done over the years, it’s pretty cool.”

In the dressing room afterward, Crosby made Fleury’s three children (Scarlett, Estelle and James) happy by signing their father’s No. 29 jersey that each was wearing for the game.

Two hours before the game, about 100 fans were already waiting for the doors of PPG Paints Arena on Washington Place to open. That was already one sign of a special evening, far from the atmosphere of a regular preseason game.

It was the return of a favorite son of Pittsburgh, who played his first 13 NHL seasons with the Penguins after they selected him No. 1 in the 2003 NHL Draft. Young and old, they wore their No. 29 jerseys. Fleury’s name mixed in perfectly with those of Crosby, Letang, Malkin and other current members of the team.

The wave of love for Fleury surged during warmups.

“I love you Fleury,” read one sign written in French.

“So the retirement was just a prank” was displayed on another in a corner behind the Penguins net.

And behind the Pittsburgh bench, another message that fit the moment: “Fleury, you make Pittsburgh smile.”

Fleury, who invited Sergei Murashov to face the first shots because he was the starting goalie, lived up to his reputation during warmups. Despite a summer without a gym regime, he showed that he still had great flexibility while coming up with a number of spectacular saves. When he wasn’t in front of the net, the young retiree threw several pucks into the stands to the delight of the fans.

After finishing his last warmup on an NHL rink, Fleury walked down the hallway leading to the Penguins locker room before turning back. He returned to the ice accompanied by Crosby, Malkin, and Letang. The quartet, who helped the Penguins to three Stanley Cup championships (2009, 2016, 2017), commemorated the moment with a few photos before the game.

A game they won’t forget, especially because it ended with a win.