The Washington Capitals took time to bid farewell to Marc-André Fleury after playing the Minnesota Wild for the last time in the regular season. Fleury, who will retire at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, did not start in net Thursday night against the Capitals, but captain Alex Ovechkin led his team in a postgame handshake line celebrating his longtime rival.
When multiple Capitals made their way down the tunnel after the 4-2 loss, Ovechkin was the one to herd his teammates back onto the ice in Fleury’s honor. He and Fleury took a moment to chat after hugging in the line.
Ovechkin, in particular, has a storied history with Fleury after playing against him for 20 years, including spending more than a decade on opposite sides of the Capitals-Penguins rivalry and competing in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.
Unless the Capitals and Wild meet in this year’s Stanley Cup Final, Thursday’s game marked the last time Fleury and the Caps will share the ice. Spencer Carbery told reporters postgame that Ovechkin was the one to suggest the tribute.
“We wanted to do that,” he said. “O had mentioned that this morning, of [this game being] the last time going up against Marc-André and paying the respects he deserves on the impressive career. He’s done so much, they’ve had so many battles — he’s had so many battles with the Caps, with O. So pretty classy to be able to send him off and say how impressive a career he had.”
Goaltender Charlie Lindgren, nine years younger than Fleury, was grateful for the opportunity to tell one of his childhood role models what his career had meant to him.
“Obviously one heck of a career,” Lindgeren said of Fleury. “He was definitely one of my favorite goalies going up. The way he competed, the way he battled, just his personality. So I never had a chance to talk to him [until then] and just said, ‘Hey, heck of a career and loved watching you play.’”
The handshake line also allowed Fleury to bid farewell to several of his former teammates. He played with Dylan Strome on the Chicago Blackhawks and Brandon Duhaime in Minnesota, winning a prank war with the latter after they played together. Asked about his former goaltender, Strome pointed not only to his own experience but to Fleury’s storied history with the Capitals.
“Fleury’s played a lot of games in this league and has had some really good series with the Caps,” Strome said postgame. “It’s one of those things where you’ve just got to respect greatness and Fleury’s been great his whole career. Got a chance to play with him in Chicago and obviously everyone knows he’s one of the best people of all time in the game. So the little respect we can show him at the end of the game, I think goes a long way and it’s well-deserved for him.”
The Capitals weren’t the first team to pay their respects Fleury during his farewell tour of the NHL. Several months after Fleury’s emotional final game in Pittsburgh, the Montreal Canadiens offered a similar tribute to the Capitals, lining up for handshakes after Fleury’s last game against his childhood team.
Over his decades-long career, Fleury has played more games (47) and allowed more goals (28) against Ovechkin than any other goaltender, with the final goal coming on January 2 in Fleury’s last game at Capital One Arena. Before Thursday’s game, Fleury told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that he was happy he wouldn’t be on the wrong end of Ovechkin’s record-breaking goal.
“I had that thought because he could have broken it now, right?” he said. “At one point we thought that maybe. But I definitely didn’t want to be the guy that was going to be on highlights for the next 50 years getting scored on.”
Though Ovechkin and Fleury have spent much of their careers competing against each other — their teams have faced off in four playoff series over the years — the future Hall-of-Famers have plenty of praise for each others’ accomplishments.
“I feel fortunate I was able to play in his time,” Fleury said of Ovechkin in January. 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.”
“Obviously, he’s one of the best goalies to ever play,” Ovechkin said Thursday. “It was a pretty good battle out there between me and him…It’s almost 20 years that we play against each other. Pittsburgh, Vegas, it’s been an honor to play against him.”
