WASHINGTON, DC — Marc-André Fleury knows better than most just what Alex Ovechkin is capable of. Ovechkin has scored on Fleury more than any other goaltender in his career, potting his 28th regular-season goal on him Thursday night. The two future Hall of Famers have faced off in a combined 66 games between the regular season and the playoffs.
Ovechkin now sits just 23 goals behind Wayne Gretzky for the all-time record. Though the goals have stung over the years, Fleury is still grateful that he’s been able to play a role in Ovechkin’s story.
“I don’t like getting scored on by him, but I love the battle over the years,” Fleury said Thursday night.
He later added, “I feel fortunate I was able to play in his time. He probably owes me a few things for scoring so many goals on me. I helped him out pretty good. I’m glad I got to face him. He’s one of the best and always brings the best out of you. It’s been fun battles with him.”
Ovechkin expressed a similar sentiment after Thursday’s loss.
“It’s 20 years to play against each other,” he said. “It’s always fun, it’s always challenge. He’s one of the best goalies out there, and it’s a huge challenge to play against him.”
This time, Fleury got the last laugh over Ovechkin. Though Ovechkin scored to tie the game in the second period, he couldn’t beat Fleury in the shootout, giving the Wild the deciding save.
“I saw him a few times on breakaways and shootouts over the years. I feel like he’s done it all,” Fleury said of the shootout. “Sometimes five-hole shot, dig back and deke forehand, so I was just trying to, I don’t know, fool with him a bit early and try to stay patient, and it worked out.”
Over two decades in the league, Ovechkin and Fleury have left their marks on each other’s careers. Neither player has earned a Stanley Cup without beating the other first: Fleury beat the Caps on the way to a championship with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, 2016, and 2017, and Ovechkin bested Fleury, then with the Vegas Golden Knights, for the Capitals’ first-ever Stanley Cup in 2018.
Fleury’s 13 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins put him and Ovechkin on opposite sides of one of the NHL’s best rivalries, only strengthening the pair’s ties. That rivalry has grown more friendly over the years but hasn’t gone away — Fleury even opted to reject a trade to Washington years after leaving the Penguins. While the Caps and Wild don’t share much bad blood, Fleury’s games in Washington still feel special.
“We’ve had so many good battles, with Pittsburgh and with Vegas playing them in the playoffs, too, right at the end there. I’ll keep good memories from this place,” he said.
Tom Wilson, who has watched over a decade of Ovechkin and Fleury’s history from up close, knew how much Thursday’s game meant to both of them.
“I think O and him, always see them kind of smiling back and forth,” Wilson said. “I mean, game respects game, and it’s fun to see all-time legends kind of going at it and have a front-row seat to that.”
Even Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery, who didn’t join the team until long after Fleury left Pittsburgh, highlighted how the pair’s careers have intertwined.
“I was reading some of the stats. You appreciate how long they’ve been going at it,” Carbery said Thursday. “The history between them and the rivalry with [Pittsburgh] and [Washington], the heated battles that they’ve had, it’s pretty cool.”
Unless the Capitals and Wild both make it to the Stanley Cup Final, Thursday night will mark Fleury’s last game in DC — he announced last spring that he would hang up his skates after the 2024-25 season. He’s not entirely done with Ovechkin, though, with the Caps set to travel to Minnesota on March 27. If Fleury starts in net that night, hockey fans will see the two all-time players face off one last time.
“When you play against one of the best players in the world, it’s always a good challenge and brings the best out of you,” Fleury said.
