Marc Andre-Fleury served as the backup of Matt Murray in his final season for Pittsburgh. After a difficult regular season, MAF started in the playoffs over an injured Murray. He became a god, especially during the second round against the Capitals.

There was that miraculous reach-behind-his-body save on Evgeny Kuznetsov. There was also that crazy Game Seven stick save on Alex Ovechkin.

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After receiving a pass from Tom Wilson, Ovechkin one-timed the puck towards the top corner of the net. Somehow Fleury got the knob of his stick on the puck, deflecting the biscuit away.

Fleury, who sometimes talks to his goal posts, flashed a big smile and then he said thank you to his stick in a special way.

I thought Fleury was acting like his favorite rock guitarist, faux-shredding his stick as a guitar. But no, that’s 100% not what he was doing.

In a lengthy feature on Fleury and the Golden Knights, Alex Prewitt reveals what really was going on.

Remember when cameras captured Fleury affectionately massaging the knob and shaft of his stick after a miraculous save against Alex Ovechkin in Game 7 of last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals? Yes, that act was intended to symbolize exactly what you thought.

“It’s something I do in practice for the guys,” Fleury says. “I caught myself. I was like, ah, f—, what am I doing? Probably not the best thing to do on national TV. Kids watching.”

Oh.

Okay.

Matt Murray would regain his job during Game Four of the Eastern Conference Finals, taking the Penguins the rest of the way for their second-consecutive Stanley Cup.