Fleury Plays Pittsburgh for the Final Time

After an emotional farewell game in Pittsburgh back in October, Marc-Andre Fleury played against the Penguins for the final time on Sunday in Minnesota.

In that first matchup, the beloved, fan-favorite netminder - who was drafted by Pittsburgh first overall in 2003 and won three Stanley Cups during his 14 years with the franchise - made 29 saves in a 5-3 Wild victory. Today, however, his oldest friends secured final bragging rights - with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin both scoring in a 3-1 win.

“I was waiting for Tanger (Kris Letang) to score!” Bryan Rust joked afterward. “But yeah, it’s cool. Sid and I were actually joking about it before the game. I was like, wouldn’t that be nice if you got the game-winner tonight? And here we are [laughs].”

Meanwhile, Fleury’s line of thinking had been, there's no way these guys will score on me!

"Oh my God. Anyone but these two,” Fleury said afterward. “I feel like I'm going to hear about this for a long time. Sid is still talking about his goal in junior against me.”

As he was making those remarks in the home dressing room, Crosby confirmed them from the visitors dressing room.

“To get one there in the last game against him, I will remind him of that many times,” the captain said with a grin.

As always, Crosby and Malkin found a way to craft a great script. It felt so fitting that those two were the only players to find the back of the net against one of their all-time favorite teammates, considering how much they loved competing against each other in practices.

“He's probably saved a lot more than I've scored against him, but definitely a fun competition there,” Crosby said. “Having to go against him every day in practice, enjoyed that. That definitely made me better, and having him as a teammate did, too.”

Fleury called that his favorite part of their time together.

“Obviously, playing together, winning together, those are such good memories and a lot of fun and all the best,” Fleury said. “But to be with these guys every day, and the group of guys that we had all these years is awesome, you know? So, to battle with them and have some laughs in practice and yell at them when I stop them... though tonight, I couldn’t laugh at them.”

Crosby admitted that his goal was lucky, as it went off Wild defenseman Brock Faber before crossing the goal line. Malkin’s came on the power play before Crosby iced the win with an empty-netter. After the game, they caught up with Fleury in the hallway outside of the locker room.

“Sometimes, you make good friends, you see guys every day for 14 years with these guys, and I don't see them much anymore, right?” Fleury said. “So, it's hard. It's hard when that happens, right? But I still always keep such good memories, and when we see each other, it feels like no time’s passed, right? It's like, back to our time there together.”

While Crosby said the most important thing was to compete and have fun with this day, he did do some reflecting coming into the contest. For him, what came to mind is how fast time goes.

“You feel like yesterday, you're coming into the league,” Crosby said. “I was so happy to be joining a young group of guys, including Flower, that had high expectations. We were all kind of growing up together in the league. So, I think you reflect on that. Just all the great moments that he was a part of, and just all the little things, not even hockey sometimes. Whether it's the road trips or the off-ice, that stuff, that’s the kind of stuff that sticks with you.”

Another fitting part of today was Fleury moving into second place for all-time starts among goaltenders in NHL history (1,015), against the team he spent more than half of them with.

“To play as long as he has at such a high level, you have to truly love what you do, and he does,” Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said. “You can see it every day with how he goes about his business, how he carries himself. He loves being on the ice. He loves competing with his teammates, and I think that's why he's beloved, because of his joy and love for the game, and the position that he plays. That’s why he's been able to endure.

“I mean, he's a talented guy and all of that, and a fierce competitor, but there's a lot of talented guys. His passion for the game, I think, is what has allowed him to endure the career that he has for as long as he has.”

The plan is for Fleury to play the rest of this season, and then officially hang them up. With the Wild in the playoff mix and looking to make a run, Fleury couldn’t let himself get too caught up in the significance of this game. At least, not right now.

“Honestly, I tried to not make it too emotional... I just tried to stay in the moment, play the game,” Fleury said. “I think it's something I will think about and look back in the years to come.”