Nearly 19 years after first playing in Washington, Marc-André Fleury will get the start for the Minnesota Wild in his final game in DC. Wild coach John Hynes confirmed after the team’s morning skate that Fleury will start against the Capitals on Thursday, per The Athletic’s Michael Russo.
Though the Capitals and Wild will play in Minnesota on March 27, Thursday’s game will be the teams’ only matchup in Washington.
For most of his career, Fleury played on the other side of a storied Capitals-Penguins rivalry, ending the Capitals’ season on the way to Stanley Cup victories in 2009 and 2017. The Caps finally made it past Fleury, then in his first season with the Vegas Golden Knights, in 2018 to win the franchise’s first championship.
Fleury has faced the Capitals 46 times in the regular season, with a record of 27-14-3 over his 21-year career. He also holds the dubious honor of allowing more Alex Ovechkin goals than any other netminder.
The Gr8 Chase continues with Alex Ovechkin facing a familiar foe.
Ovechkin and Marc-Andre Fleury have met 65 times (regular-season & playoffs) including three playoff series and the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.
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The Caps-Pens rivalry stuck with Fleury even years after he left Pittsburgh: he confirmed in 2023 that he rejected a trade-deadline deal that would have sent him to DC, saying, “It just didn’t seem right.”
Now age 40, Fleury announced last spring that this would be his final year in the NHL. He will be a surefire Hall of Famer once he hangs up his skates — ranking second in all-time wins (567) and sitting just eight games behind Roberto Luongo (1044) for second-most games by a goaltender (1,036) — but his impact on the game goes beyond on-ice achievements. Brandon Duhaime, who played parts of two seasons with Fleury in Minnesota, called the experience “incredible.”
“I mean just a legend like that — everyone talks about how good he is on the ice and how he’s a better person, but it really doesn’t do it justice,” Duhaime told RMNB. “He really is an incredible person and just takes everyone under his wing. He’s just unbelievable.”
Duhaime made the bold choice to go toe-to-toe with one of the NHL’s most infamous pranksters while playing with Fleury. The pranks continued even after the Wild traded Duhaime to the Colorado Avalanche, culminating with Fleury putting a “for sale” sign on his car, stealing his tires, and planting a flowerbed on his hood.
“It tails back a lot of years, but I think it was just maybe some little jabs going back and forth, and then things escalated from there,” Duhaime recounted. “It was all in good fun, and (I) love that guy and loved being a part of that group, and it’s a lot of fun.”
Caps fans will get one last chance to see Fleury play when the puck drops at Capital One Arena on Thursday night. And though the Capitals have no plans to make the game easy on him, even longtime rival Tom Wilson has plenty of respect for Fleury’s career.
“I think he’s a personality in the game of hockey that when he moves on to the next chapter, the game will miss him for sure,” he said. “Competing against him and having that rivalry over the years, you get to see a lot. I know his teammates in the league think very highly of him and he’s obviously a heck of a goaltender. So I think he’s a guy that people root for.
“Obviously when we’re playing against him, it’s our job to make his life as difficult as possible. But we’ve played some big games against him and he’s always played really well. And just a guy that’s kind of bigger than the game of hockey, I think. People appreciate him and it’s been a heck of a career for him.”
