It wasn’t easy, but Marc-André Fleury wrote a new page of history during the Minnesota Wild’s 4-3 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena.
Indeed, the Quebecer finally joined Patrick Roy in second place in the history of the National League for the most victories for a goaltender with 551.
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However, with more than a minute to go in the third period, nothing indicated that the Sorel-Tracy native was going to accomplish this feat of arms, because his team was trailing 3 to 2.
While Fleury went to the bench in favor of a sixth skater, the latter had to return to his net since Justin Danforth came alone to score the insurance goal for the Blue Jackets.
However, Fleury made an incredible save by throwing himself onto the ice. In the sequence that followed, the Wild regained possession of the disc and Marcus Johansson equalized to bring the two teams into overtime.
“That save he made at the end, it’s fun to watch,” Johansson said following Minnesota’s victory, his comments being reported by the NHL website. [C’est] a good way for him to tie second place. I’m happy for him. [Je suis] proud of him, couldn’t happen to a better guy.”
During the extra period, the 39-year-old netminder made an incredible glove save on a shot from Yegor Chinakhov, allowing his club to stay in the match. It was ultimately Marco Rossi who closed the books to give victory to his team.
In the defeat, Cole Sillinger scored a hat trick for the Columbus team. Matt Boldy, twice, also scored for the visitors.
An “honor” for Fleury
The goalkeeper did not hide his satisfaction at having joined Roy, who is a true legend in the field, but he is even happier to have won the victory for his team because they had not known victory since December 27 last year.
“Obviously catching up with Patrick [Roy] is an honor, a guy I looked up to growing up. At the time, I was happy to get the victory here for the boys,” he said on Saturday.
“You know what? I was just happy to win tonight. It did not work [récemment]. We’re missing a few guys. We obviously need points in the standings.”
Fleury will have the opportunity to take second place in the prestigious ranking alone during his next start. However, it will be difficult to reach the first place held by Martin Brodeur, who won 691 games in the regular season.