ST PAUL, Minn. — Marc-Andre Fleury grabbed a bit of history Monday night, taking sole possession of second place with his 552nd win in the NHL and posting his 74th career shutout as the Minnesota Wild beat the New York Islanders 5-0 on Monday.
Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice on special teams, Mats Zuccarello had a goal and an assist, and Connor Dewar and Marcus Foligno also scored for the Wild, who had gone 1-7-1 in their previous nine games. The win over the Islanders allowed a much-needed celebration of the 39-year-old Fleury, a popular teammate who finally passed Patrick Roy on the all-time goaltender win list.
Martin Brodeur holds the record with 691 wins, a mark that likely will never be broken due to the trend of platooning goaltenders instead of having one person carrying the demanding physical load.
Fleury stopped 21 shots in his first shutout of the season. He was 1-4-1 in his six previous starts. The crowd chanted Fleury's name after a difficult power-play save in the second period when the Wild outshot the sloppy and sluggish Islanders by a whopping 21-3. The serenade for the popular French-Canadian nicknamed Flower rose again in the closing minutes, and the entire Wild team mobbed him in the crease for postgame hugs.
Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves in two periods for the Islanders, setting a career-high by starting an 11th consecutive game. He's the only goalie in the league who's faced more than 1,000 shots to date, with an average of more than 34 allowed by the Islanders in his appearances this season.
Kenneth Appleby took over in net after the second intermission, with the Islanders trailing 3-0 and facing another game the following night. Semyon Varlamov has been sidelined for six games and counting with a lower-body injury. Appleby made his first NHL appearance in nearly six years, the last when he played a game for the New Jersey Devils. He let in a short-handed goal by Eriksson Ek and Foligno's flip-in in the final minute.
The Islanders took six penalties, and Zuccarello and Eriksson Ek scored on the power play. The Islanders, who have lost four of their last five games, have also dropped six consecutive games to the Wild.
The Wild were booed by their home fans just two days ago during a 6-0 loss to Arizona that triggered a players-only meeting afterward. They appeared to respond quite well with a well-rounded effort Monday.
General manager Bill Guerin said before the game he's not ready to give up on the playoffs and shed salary, despite the club sitting well below the cut in 13th place in the Western Conference.
Defenseman Jonas Brodin returned from a 17-game absence due to an upper-body injury he sustained on Dec. 8, bringing the Wild as close to full strength as they've been in nearly three weeks.
Zuccarello scored on a power-play slap shot from behind the left circle just 2:21 into the game, his first goal in 20 games — he missed nine with an injury — since Dec. 3. Dewar ended a 17-game goal drought. Eriksson Ek had gone 10 straight games without scoring.
The Wild are 14-2-4 when scoring first. Their last regulation win was on Dec. 27 against Detroit.
Sweet night for the Flower
The crowd chants for Marc-Andre Fleury started in the second period and filled the arena again in the waning minutes, as the Minnesota Wild goalie closed in on a long-sought milestone.
Once the horn sounded on Fleury's 552nd win in the NHL on Monday night, putting him in sole possession of second place on the career list, Wild players rushed to the crease for a group hug that was overdue for everyone on this struggling club.
“Look at how the team rushed out after the game to congratulate him,” coach John Hynes said, reflecting on the impact Fleury has made on every organization he's been with.
The 39-year-old Fleury has put himself in elite company among the hundreds of goaltenders to ever put on the pads throughout the history of the league, now owning more victories than Patrick Roy (551) and trailing only Martin Brodeur (691).
"I hope he stays there forever," teammate Marcus Foligno said.
Regardless of where he has ranked in the record book, though, celebrating Fleury is a natural activity for fans, teammates and anyone associated with the sport.
“He’s a better guy than a goalie, and that says a lot when you have the second-best goalie in the world,” said Mats Zuccarello, who scored 2:11 into the game in the 5-0 victory over the New York Islanders.
As he closed in on his first shutout of the season — and the 74th of his 20-year career — Fleury moved around the crease with his usual intensity and intention. He even tapped the crossbar a couple of times to thank it for the help, a quirk just as prevalent for him as his locker room pranks.
Fleury recently became the fourth goalie to play in 1,000 games. He tied Roy in wins the following week. Then he gave the Wild another highlight in a season that has been short on them.
“My dream was to play in the NHL. I was so happy to play that first game,” said Fleury, drafted first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2003. "From then on, it was just one game at a time, one win at a time, trying to win the next one. I’ve been very fortunate to play with really great teams, great teammates, people that helped me stay healthy throughout the journey. It feels crazy to be here now.”
How about ahead of Brodeur?
“I’ll need 15 more years,” the perpetually smiling Fleury said.
Two of Fleury's three children — the other was recovering from tonsil surgery — greeted him at his stall in the Wild locker room afterward. The team quickly announced a celebration night for Fleury on Feb. 9 when the Wild host the Penguins, the team he won his first two Stanley Cup titles with over 13 seasons.
He won another one with the Vegas Golden Knights, moved on to the Chicago Blackhawks and then arrived in Minnesota in a midseason trade two years ago for what has widely been assumed the final stop of his decorated career. Fleury, who also has 92 wins and 16 shutouts in 169 playoff games, has not revealed whether or not he'd like to play next season after his contract expires this summer.
“He’s probably the best guy I’ve ever played with there on the team,” defenseman Jonas Brodin said. “He cares about the team, and he’s such a good guy. I’m so happy for him.”
Brushing aside the fuss and the praise as effortlessly as he swats away the pucks, Fleury finally allowed himself to acknowledge the enormity of the accomplishment by nestling between the greats Roy and Brodeur, his fellow French Canadians.
“What a feeling to have the crowd, 18,000, chanting your name. Get a little goosebumps,” Fleury said. "Where else in life are you going to get that? I’ll cherish that for a long time.”
UP NEXT
Wild: Play at Tampa Bay on Thursday.
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