DENVER — There were a few Wild players who didn’t know whether they’d still be Wild players by Friday afternoon. Marc-Andre Fleury was not one of them.
The future hall of fame goaltender who passed 1,000 NHL games and moved into second place on the career victories list this season, made it clear to Wild general manager Bill Guerin that he didn’t want to finish the season anywhere else ahead of Friday’s 2 p.m. CST trade deadline.
Fleury, who turned 39 in November, has a no-trade clause in a two-year, $7 million contract extension that expires after the season, but Guerin didn’t need the veteran to veto a trade. He just didn’t entertain any.
Asked after backstopping a 5-2 victory at Arizona on Thursday whether he had any second thoughts about going to a contender, Fleury said, “We’re a little behind, obviously, but still battling.”
With two straight victories going into Friday’s 8 p.m. puck drop at Colorado, the Wild are, in fact, still in a playoff chase but, as Fleury noted, “a little bit behind” — although they picked up two points on sliding Vegas on Thursday and are now seven out of the West’s second wild card spot.
Fleury has been a big reason. After stopping 23 of 25 shots on Thursday — many of which left Arizona players shaking their heads — Fleury is 6-2-0 with a .921 save percentage and 2.16 goals-against average in his past 10 appearances.
His march into NHL history has been the highlight of a disappointing season, which started with a 5-10-4 thud that cost Dean Evason his job. And his mein, a rare combination of intense competitiveness and amiable personality, has been a beacon in a sometimes dark dressing room.
“To have the chance to play in front of him is special,” veteran forward Ryan Hartman said after Fleury played in his 1,000th NHL game on New Year’s Eve, a 4-2 loss to Winnipeg at Xcel Energy Center.
During fall camp, Fleury said he will decide whether to retire at season’s end, something he has reiterated a few times throughout the season, his 20th. With three Stanley Cup championships, 557 career victories — second only to childhood idol Martin Brodeur’s 691 — and 1,015 games played, he has nothing unchecked on the bucket list. But he also has been playing well, still flashing the form that made him a living hockey legend.
On Thursday, he kept the Wild in the game with a series of highlight reel saves until the Wild got four third-period goals, two of them empty-netters, to put the Coyotes away.
In the first period, he pivoted right to rob Dylan Guenther on a one-timer, leaving the Arizona wing to smack his stick on the ice and shake his head. Later, he stopped Michael Carcone on a two-on-one, making the save on his one-timer from the corner of the crease.
And Fleury’s decision to stick with the Wild and chase a longshot playoff hope has meant a lot to teammates who look up to him.
“It’s huge,” said Zach Bogosian, who scored a timely goal to tie Thursday’s game 2-2 and cap a three-goal flurry in the first two minutes of the third period. The Wild watched popular teammate Brandon Duhaime leave for Colorado before Thursday’s morning skate, and were unsure who else might be headed out before Friday’s deadline.
“Everyone cares about each other in this room, and we understand that there are certain things that are out of players’ control,” said Bogosian, who signed a two-year, $2.5 million contract extension on Wednesday. “Obviously, we love Flower, and he’s played awesome for us every time he’s in the net.”
Fleury started the season as backup/mentor to Filip Gustavsson, but with his recent play, he has been the team’s best goalie as it fights to stay alive for a fourth consecutive playoff appearance.
“It’s been fun, playing those games, and winning some games and feeling good, feeling like I can help a bit,” he said. “I can’t say I’ve changed much. Just keep battling, keep talking to the goalie coach. Nothing special, I think.”
But it has been.
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