Marc-Andre Fleury electrifies crowd in dramatic Wild win over Penguins
On the night the Minnesota Wild celebrated Marc-Andre Fleury for reaching both 1,000 career games and 552 victories, the future Hall of Fame goalie made stood tall in net to the crowd chanting his name as he staved off a furious push by Pittsburgh to help Minnesota win 3-2.
Leading 3-2, the Penguins pulled the goalie with 2:15 to play and then had a 6-on-4 advantage for the last two minutes after Jonas Brodin was called for high-sticking. It was a chaotic finish that saw Fleury make numerous saves – he finished the game with 33 saves against his former team – to secure his 553rd career victory, which is second all time in NHL history.
The winning goal came with 10:26 left in the third period – and not without some drama – when Zach Bogosian's shot broke a stick and deflected right to Kirill Kaprizov who didn't miss an open net for his 20th goal of the season.
Pittsburgh reacted to the goal by challenging that moments before the goal the puck hit the netting for a "missed game stoppage" but the officials, after a lengthy review (7 minutes, 13 seconds), decided there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the play.
Minnesota led 1-0 on Matt Boldy's power play goal in the first period and led 2-1 just over six minutes into the second period on Jonas Brodin's second goal of his injury-plagued season.
Sidney Crosby, who surprised Fleury with a special gift early in the day, beat his former teammate with his 28th goal of the season on a Pittsburgh power play just 61 seconds into the third period to tie the game 2-2.
Crosby, earlier in the game, got away with a penalty when he wrapped his arm and glove around Brock Faber's face and drove him into the boards.
The Wild have another injury concern after forward Marcus Foligno left the game after getting tripped up late in the second period. He started the third period playing on Minnesota's penalty kill but quickly left the ice and didn't return.
The win gets the Wild back to .500 at 23-23-5 (51 points) and just three points out of the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Up next: Wild at Vegas, Monday at 9 p.m. CT.
Feb 9, 2024; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) makes a save on Pittsburgh Penguins center Jeff Carter (77) in the second period at Xcel Energy Center.
Credit: Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports
