Returning to Pittsburgh for one final farewell just felt right for Marc-Andre Fleury.
Fleury stopped all eight shots he faced during the third period of his final game with the Pittsburgh Penguins, a 4-1 pre-season win against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.
“It was a little surreal, a little crazy, but also comfortable,” said Fleury, a native of Sorel, Que. “When I played here with other teams, I always felt a little weird, but this felt normal, like it used to.”
Fleury officially retired from the NHL as a member of the Minnesota Wild at the end of last season. But the beloved 40-year-old goaltender signed a ceremonial professional tryout contract earlier this month to see old teammates and friends, come full circle and complete a 21-season NHL career that began in Pittsburgh.
“I feel bad because I’ve done so many laps and goodbyes and I keep coming back,” Fleury said. “I’m thankful I got the opportunity to come back for one more go-around.”
Fleury, a former Vezina Trophy winner who also played with Vegas and Chicago, is second in NHL history only to Martin Brodeur with 575 wins and 1,051 regular-season games played, and his 76 NHL shutouts are tied for 10th in league history.
But this night was meant to celebrate Fleury, who is most well-known for his time in Pittsburgh where he won three Stanley Cups and holds nearly every major goaltending record in Penguins’ history, including games played (691), wins (375), goals-against average (2.58), shutouts (44), playoff games (115), playoff wins (62) and playoff shutouts with 10.
Fleury, who practised with the Penguins on Friday, wore his familiar bright, yellow pads and a specially made mask to commemorate the special weekend. Fleury was offered a choice as to when he could play on Saturday and he opted for the third period to try to win one more game with the Penguins.
The sellout crowd rose to its feet in unison and gave Fleury a standing ovation as he led the Penguins’ from the tunnel to begin the third period. Loud chants of “Fle-ury” “Fle-ury” and “One More Year” filled the arena minutes after the puck dropped to begin the period. Fans erupted with thunderous applause each time Fleury made a save or touched the puck, including stops on Hudson Fasching, Cole Sillinger and Erik Gudbranson.
In the final two minutes, with the game in hand, the crowd showered Fleury with chants of “Thank You Fleury.” When the final horn sounded, fellow franchise cornerstones Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang embraced Fleury one more time in the crease.
“Every time he touched the puck, the reception was unreal,” Crosby said. “It felt like a playoff game. It was nice to get him the win.”
Fleury spent the first 13 seasons of his career with the Penguins. He helped Crosby, Malkin and Letang win the Stanley Cup in 2009, 2016 and 2017 before Vegas selected Fleury in the 2017 expansion draft.
Pittsburgh traded up to draft an 18-year-old Fleury No. 1 overall in 2003 during a tumultuous period in which the franchise nearly moved. More than two decades later, Pittsburgh is no longer a playoff fixture, but Fleury helped stabilize the franchise and turn the Penguins into one of the NHL’s marquee teams.
His signature moment with Pittsburgh came June 12, 2009, in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final against Detroit. Fleury made a last-second desperation, post-to-post diving save on Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom to seal a 2-1 win and deliver Pittsburgh its third Stanley Cup.
The fans remembered on Saturday.
Before the game, crowds gathered multiple rows deep behind the Penguins’ goal hoping to catch a glimpse of Fleury during his final pre-game warmup with the team. Many took photos and video to commemorate the moment, wore familiar No. 29 jerseys and held homemade signs expressing their love for Fleury, who lobbed pucks over the glass in between facing shots.
“It was surreal to be back with the Penguins and seeing the guys in front of me,” Fleury said. “It was amazing. It was just like old times.”
