TAMPA, Fla. — Marc-Andre Fleury may be 39 years old, in his 21st season and owner of the second-most victories in NHL history, but even a Hall of Fame-destined goaltender feels the pressure when things have been going this well for the Wild.
He knows Filip Gustavsson has gotten off to a sensational start with a 4-0-1 record, .952 save percentage and 1.40 goals-against average. He knows there are many fans out there — and, heck, perhaps even teammates — who would prefer John Hynes always ride the hot goalie. And after six straight games without a regulation loss for the Wild to start this season, he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of the first.
“Yeah, for sure. I want to help,” Fleury said when asked after Thursday night’s 4-2 Wild victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning whether he felt pressure before his second start of the season and first since Oct. 11. “I want to help the team as much as I can. Sometimes waiting for a while is not easy, but Gus is playing amazing. He’s been winning lots, that’s all you can ask for.
“So I just try to work hard in practice, try to stay ready when I’m called upon, but I love that feeling. Love the feeling of winning at the end, and it doesn’t matter how long I’ve played, I’m still always looking for it.”
Well, for a guy who hadn’t played in 12 nights, he sure was tested during a 12-save first period.
There were two saves where you just knew Fleury was feeling comfortable.
The first was a shot that he stopped through traffic, then in one motion was confident enough to steer the rebound right onto Jonas Brodin’s stick. The second was a vintage Fleury glove save in which he did his normal flair for the dramatic by showing everybody the snow cone at the tippy-top of his trapper.
“I love a good glove,” Fleury said, smiling wide. “It just hit the tip and rolled up again. But still was happy to make the save and move on from there.”
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Fleury allowed the Wild to carry a 1-0 lead into the second period despite being severely outshot and out-chanced in the first.
“He kept us in there,” said former Lightning defenseman Zach Bogosian, who assisted on Joel Eriksson Ek’s tying goal late in the second period and had two hits, two blocked shots, a shot, four others attempted and was plus-3. “Made a lot of really big saves, nothing that he hasn’t done before over the last, I don’t know, 21 years. But it was good to see him get back in there and have success.”
The Wild hit a pocket in the second period where the Lightning rallied from that one-goal deficit to take a 2-1 lead. It was the first deficit the Wild faced in 391 minutes, 31 seconds this season.
So how would they respond?
Admirably.
After Fleury’s 12-save opening frame, he’d have to make only 11 the rest of the way. Just like in Tuesday’s 5-1 win at Florida, the Wild played the exact same way, especially in a five-shot-against third period in which the Wild defended tremendously and got some huge blocks from the likes of Marcus Johansson and Jakub Lauko.
“It was never a doubt with us as far as the last 10 minutes, just making sure guys are blocking shots and doing all the hard, little things,” Bogosian said. “It’s something in the past that maybe we were trying to do it, and it wasn’t executed.”
Added Hynes, “We believe in how we need to play, we know how we need to play, if we get away from it or something happens in the game, we can get back to it quickly. We know what the recipe is to do it, and to the players’ credit, it’s the commitment to do it and do it consistently.”
The Wild improved to 5-0-2 this season and 4-0-1 on this current seven-game road trip. They became the first team since the 2015-16 Canadiens to allow no more than two goals during each of their first five road games. They’re one of two teams in the NHL without a regulation loss.
Seven games into this impressive start to this 82-game marathon, the Wild have allowed 1.83 goals per game (second best in the NHL). Over their four-game road win streak, they have allowed 25.5 shots per game.
“Our D have been awesome,” said Matt Boldy, who scored the winning goal 54 seconds into the third period after Eriksson Ek drew a power play. “I think we’re playing connected, playing together, which helps our D be so good. … Our D block everything. So that obviously helps, and Flower’s exactly what you expect him to be. He was unbelievable tonight.”
Fleury said he felt a little rusty in the first period, but those early shots allowed him to settle in.
“No panic really,” Fleury said of the Wild’s first deficit. “We just stuck to the game plan and we didn’t rush anything, try to create something offensively without (sacrificing) defense. I thought we stuck with the plan, and obviously big goal in the third. And then we shut it down.”
The Wild’s start to this season has been quite the contrast to the start of last season.
The Wild have five wins and 12 points in seven games. Last season when Dean Evason was fired after 19 games, the Wild had five wins and 14 points.
“I think we’re maybe more on the same page everywhere every zone,” Fleury said. “Guys know where to go, where they’ll be, so I feel like when we get the puck we don’t have to think or look around too much. We have an idea where the guys are at and that allows us to move quicker and get out of the zone quicker and attack a little quicker in the offensive zone, find guys.
“And because of that, there’s no panic. We just stuck with it and we didn’t open up and try to score. Worked out.”
Kirill Kaprizov scored his 27th career game-opening goal and an empty-netter. He added an assist for his fourth consecutive multi-point game and is now tied for second in the NHL with 13 points in seven games.
Brodin played a terrific game, hustling in the neutral zone to trigger a three-on-one that led to Marco Rossi teeing up Kaprizov in the first. Then, in the second, Brodin was under pressure just inside the blue line before spinning and escaping pressure before Eriksson Ek’s tying goal with 98 seconds left in the period.
“Pretty good play, huh?” said Eriksson Ek, the fellow Karlstad, Sweden, native. “I skate with him in the summers, and when he starts to dribble like that, it’s not a lot of guys that takes the puck away from him. Maybe it comes out a little bit more during the summers. But I think he is one of the most underrated players in the league for sure.”
Then, to open the third, Boldy stood in Kaprizov’s spot in the left circle and scored the Wild’s latest goal from the exact same angle this season off yet another terrific Mats Zuccarello feed.
“Everyone can play in every spot. I think that’s the biggest thing about our power play,” Boldy said of the league’s fifth best with a man advantage. “And we’re able to move and read off each other. … Mats is so good at freezing the defenders. Sometimes that’s how it is for us, too. He surprises us. It’s nice when he’s coming down here with it and holding it like that, you can kind of expect it to get your way.”
Thursday’s win was a good tuneup for Fleury’s last start ever Tuesday night in Pittsburgh even though many questioned the decision to not start Gustavsson.
“We knew that this was going to be (his) start,” Hynes said. “I think if we can communicate with the goalies, they’ve expressed that to us if we can have a plan, it might not always be there, but when we know it’s going to be, we’ve found that they’re dialed in.
“They’re ready. They’re professionals, and it’s really the way that (Fleury) goes about his business when he knows he’s not going to play, how he trains, how he practices, gets himself ready, and you could see this morning that he was excited to play. He was dialed in in the pregame skate and he came through and played really well tonight.”
One can expect Gustavsson to get back in the nets Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia, but Fleury, who intends to retire after this season, will be treated like royalty back in the place where it all started for him in 2003.
Fleury’s wife, children, mother and other family members will be in attendance.
You know the Wild will want to put forth an all-out effort for their beloved teammate.
“That’ll definitely be a special one,” Bogosian said. “It’ll be pretty cool to witness.”
(Photo: Kim Klement Neitzel / Imagn Images)
