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    Sammi Silber
    Sammi Silber
    Feb 10, 2024, 00:07

    The Capitals captain makes a cameo on canvas as the Penguins gift Fleury a painting celebrating his career.

    The Capitals captain makes a cameo on canvas as the Penguins gift Fleury a painting celebrating his career.

    Geoff Burke — USA TODAY Sports | Twitter:@Penguins - Alex Ovechkin Featured In Marc-Andre Fleury's Custom Painting From Penguins To Celebrate Career

    The Pittsburgh Penguins went above and beyond to honor Marc-Andre Fleury as the Minnesota Wild host a night celebrating the iconic goaltender, and Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is also part of the festivities — at least on canvas.

    Fleury was gifted with a custom painting from the Penguins celebrating his career and memories, and one of the players featured in the painting is no other than Ovechkin, one of Fleury's long-time rivals.

    It's a good memory for the former Pittsburgh netminder, though, as the painting depicts Fleury's iconic glove save on Ovechkin from Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where the Penguins defeated Washington to advance en route to what would be Fleury's first of three Stanley Cups.

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    Ovechkin has scored on 172 different goalies in the NHL but has scored on Fleury the most, with 27 goals against the French-Canadian in his 19-year career.

    For Fleury, going up against Ovechkin has been a prime memory, as his Pittsburgh Penguins defeated Ovechkin and the Capitals three times for three different Stanley Cup titles. He also faced Washington in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final when he was with the Vegas Golden Knights.

    "The old times, you know?" Fleury said after receiving the gift from Sidney Crosby. 

    The painting is just one way that the Penguins and Wild are honoring the netminder, who recently played his 1,000th game and sits second on the NHL's all-time wins list. Minnesota's players are wearing jerseys with special patches featuring Fleury, and goalie partner Filip Gustavsson wore a flower wreath to the game in honor of No. 29, who is known affectionately as "Flower."

    Fleury has played in 1,008 NHL games, going 552-324-94 with a .912 save percentage, 2.59 GAA and 74 shutouts, and Friday could be the final time that he faces his original team in his historic 20-year career.