Former Golden Knight Fleury Honored by Ovechkin, Capitals

On Thursday, the Washington Capitals were in Minnesota to take on the Wild. The Wild won by a final score of 4-2. When the final horn sounded, the defeated Capitals began to exit the ice and walk down the tunnel.

Not so fast.

Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin urgently skated to the bench, waving his stick to get his teammates’ attention. A few Capitals players were already down the tunnel, and Ovechkin yelled after them, gesturing for them to follow him. He skated to center ice; once there, he shook off his glove, shook Marc-André Fleury’s hand, and embraced him.

Fleury, retiring after this season, was Ovechkin’s rival for 12 seasons as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. When Ovechkin won his first Stanley Cup in 2018, it was against Fleury and the Vegas Golden Knights. 

It’s not often you see something like this. Fleury was honored earlier this season after his final start in Pittsburgh and again after his final start in his hometown of Montreal. But this? A long-time rival keeping his team on the ice after a loss and directing them to center ice to shake hands with the opposing team’s goaltender? The opposing team’s backup goaltender, at that– Filip Gustavsson started on Thursday.

It’s pure class from Ovechkin, who is just six goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. It also speaks to the legacy Fleury will leave behind. He’s played 1048 games for four NHL teams; in every stop of his journey, he’s captured the hearts of fans and teammates alike.

Fleury was a Golden Knight for four seasons and finished his tenure in Vegas with a record of 117-60-14 and an average save percentage of .917 in 192 games. In the 2017-18 run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Fleury posted a record of 13-7-0 and a .927 save percentage. In 2020-21, Fleury won the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the best goaltender in the league. He also won the William M. Jennings Trophy, which goes to the goaltender for the team that allows the fewest goals against.

But, as Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals demonstrated on Thursday, fans and teammates will remember Fleury best, not for the goaltender he was on the ice, but for the man he was off of it.