ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Wild capped off Marc-Andre Fleury Night with a 3-2 win over his former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in front of a sold out 19,329 fans inside Xcel Energy Center on Friday.
And the Wild — who are now just three points behind the eighth-place St. Louis Blues — accomplished it by playing one of their better games as of late.
“I think in general I’d say Nashville, Anaheim and Chicago (games) were probably not I think the standard of play, the standard of competitiveness, the commitment you need in hard areas of the ice,” coach John Hynes said. “Tonight, we had that. It’s nice we had it and found a way to win the game. Now that game has to be more consistent and more reliable. We got to be ready and committed to play with that intensity level, that work ethic every night.”
The Wild have had trouble holding onto one-goal leads as of late. It costed them against the Predators and Ducks before the bye week and All-Star break. But, unlike the two games before the break, the Wild have responded in these two games out of the break after surrendering the equalizer.
On Friday, the quartet of Fleury, a stifling penalty kill, star wingers in Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy and defenseman Jonas Brodin paved the way to one of the Wild's most complete games of the calendar year. As Boldy said, “It was a great win overall. I think everyone had an impact. There weren’t any passengers, and that’s a step in the right direction, for sure.”
The Wild, who entered Friday with losses in nine of their past 10 contests against the Penguins since 2018, won their first game against Pittsburgh since Nov. 6, 2021. Fleury stopped 34 of 36 shots (including six of seven high-danger shots) for a .944 save percentage and saved 0.86 goals above expected, according to Natural Stat Trick.
It's quite impressive Fleury wasn't distracted and kept it all together after the Wild honored him in a pregame ceremony that recognized two major milestones he has set this season: 552 wins (second all-time) 1,000 games (the fourth goalie to do so).
“I’m happy it’s over; I was a little nervous for it,” said Fleury, who received a silver stick and custom mask during the ceremony with his family by his side. “I feel like I’ve gotten softer and softer with the years and then seeing my kids on the ice and on the jumbotron talking (in the video tribute), old teammates, it gets me. ... Very grateful for the Wild organization and (the) Penguins also for making this day so special for my family.”
“This one is so special,” Kaprizov said. “It’s the first time I see a goalie play 1,000 games. It’s my teammate. It’s unbelievable. It’s a great night for him and for his family.”
“I've been around for a few of those,” Zach Bogosian added, “and that was really cool just to see the ovation that he got. Just a special person, a special player. People like him don't come around very often. The caliber of player that he is as well, so pretty special.”
This was Fleury's first game since Jan. 19 in Florida. He got hit behind the net by forward William Lockwood, who received a three-game suspension for the collision. But it sure didn't seem like it as Fleury showed no signs of rust.
“A great evening (and) the whole ceremony was great,” Hynes said. “The way he performed. I told the team after the game, just his performance and his competitiveness was great to see. It was a big difference in the game. Then the way the players play in front of him. Its fun to be involved in that and see how much he battles and how much he means to the team, and you can see his impact he has the group, how they battle and how bad they want to win for him.”
The Wild played one of their most complete games as of late and got rewarded for it. The game started and ended with their penalty kill, which went 5-for-6 and has improved to 22-for-24 (91.6%) since allowing three power play goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 18. The Wild relied on even strength play Friday as they, too, went 1-for-6 on the power play.
“We can’t lose in (a) night like this,” Kaprizov said. “Flower made a lot of good saves. Guys got blocked shots, too.”
The Wild did, however, open the scoring on the power play with 7:03 remaining in the first period when Boldy beat Alex Nedeljkovic high blocker from the slot after receiving a pass from Kaprizov, who made a nice play in the neutral zone that led to the goal.
Brock Faber recorded another assist and is up to 31 points and has set single-season records for assists and points for a rookie in Wild history.
Reilly Smith got the Penguins on the board 2:54 into the middle frame when he one-timed Evgeni Malkin's cross-slot feed past Fleury glove side from the edge of the right circle. But Jonas Brodin's individual effort at four-on-four broke the tie just 3:18 after Smith's equalizer.
Brodin was the Wild's best defenseman Friday with a goal, assist and +2 rating after being absent at Monday and Tuesday's practices and missing Wednesday's game in Chicago due to illness. With Brodin on the ice, the Wild controlled 66.58 percent of the on-ice five-on-five expected goal share, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The Penguins answered just 61 seconds into the third period on the power play by none other than Sidney Crosby, who redirected Erik Karlsson's pass from the point past Fleury.
But the Wild's star, Kaprizov, who has 12 goals in his past 15 games, delivered when his team needed him after previously hitting two pipes. Kaprizov buried Bogosian's point shot past Nedeljkovic the power play with 10:26 left, a lead the Wild preserved despite giving the Penguins two power plays inside the final 10 minutes.
The Penguins challenged for a missed stoppage on Kaprizov's goal — which led to an over seven minute review — but were unsuccessful.
“It’s important that we win those close games,” said Bogosian, who played well alongside Brodin “They tie it up, and we respond right away. Those are big key moments in the game, and I thought the guys responded really well tonight.”
A key ingredient in the Wild's successful penalty kill and overall product was their willingness to block shots.
“That's what it takes to win games,” Bogosian said. “A lot of heart, a lot of courage. It's not an easy thing to do. They hurt. But the win’s feel way better when you win them that way.
“Obviously, you're playing the right way, you're committing to the team, and it was great to see the guys do it.”
What did Hynes think of the top-six?
“Much more engaged throughout the lineup,” Hynes said. “There’s a certain level of intensity that you need to play with (and) without the puck that I thought those guys did a much better job of tonight. They played faster. They were more competitive on the puck, won more puck battles, spent more time in the offensive zone. More of a direct shot mentality. That was what was lacking a little bit the other night, (so) nice to see the guys respond the right way tonight.”
The looming question ahead is the seriousness of Marcus Foligno's injury. The veteran winger suffered an injury late in the second period when he was tripped by Marcus Pettersson. Hynes had no update after the game about Foligno, who had one shift in the third period before heading back down the tunnel.
The Wild look to continue their mini winning streak coming out of the break against the Vegas Golden Knights on the road Monday night.