Inside Marc-Andre Fleury's special night

ST. PAUL – Bodies flying everywhere, Marc-Andre Fleury sprawling from post to post trying to keep his team in it with a minute left in the third up a goal, the Wild held onto a one-goal lead thanks to three saves by Fleury in the last minute and six blocked shots.

“Yeah, I think when you saw the guys at the end diving in front. I think Brandon would have blocked that with his face if he needed to,” Matt Boldy said on the final minute of play. “Obviously a lot of respect there. We weren’t losing that one.”

Not only did the Wild honor Fleury before the game with 1,000 flowers shaped into a 1,000 sign for playing in 1,000 games and a 552 sign for winning 552 games which is second all-time in the NHL in wins, but Fleury looked like the former 20-year-old goaltender making one acrobatic save after another keeping his team in it.

“The end of the game was vintage him,” Wild head coach John Hynes said on Fleury’s final minute in the net. “When you look at the highlights even in his ceremony and take that last minute and a half, you could just put those clips on the video and it looks the same.”

You would’ve thought the Wild were playing in game seven of the Stanley Cup the way they were protecting the lead like that in the final minute. It was that special to the group to hold on and get Fleury that win on a night in which they honored him.

“Oh yeah. We can’t lose in night like this,” Kirill Kaprizov said. “Flower made a lot of good saves. Guys got blocked shots, too.”

Zach Bogosian added: “Yeah, I mean, 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 wins feel way better when you win them that way. You’re playing the right way, you’re committing to the team. And it was great to see the guys do it.”

Fleury stopped 34 shots out of the 36 he faced and won his 553rd career game. Not only was it a huge win for the goaltender on a special night but it got the Wild back in the playoff picture which is what they need.

“Yeah, I think so. I thought it was a good game,” Fleury said on if it felt like playoff hockey. “I think Chicago might have been a little like this way but we didn’t play well. A full week off and stuff, so. Tonight the guys looked good. We battled hard all night long. Didn’t matter when they scored too, just kept pushing. It’s good.”

But before the game started, Fleury got a touching tribute that had players, former players, management, fans, and even the media in tears.

The veteran goaltender seemed to hold all of his emotions in when watching the tribute video but he teared up a bit at the end when his kids were on the screen telling him how much they love their dad.

“That’s what gets me I think,” Fleury said on getting emotional. “I don’t know why kids do that to me. I hope to be a good model for them, right? Hopefully, they can remember me playing hockey and people cheering for me, for my team, right, and for our name. I think it means a lot. Soon I’ll be on the couch not doing much so hopefully they can remember this time when I was playing hockey.”

Before the game, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang gave Fleury a painting from the Pittsburgh Penguins organization to honor him and look back at his career. It was a nice touch from the team Fleury won three Stanley Cups with and played 661 games with.

Filip Gustavsson, who started his career in the Penguins organization and has been Fleury’s goalie partner for the last couple of years, told us he might be on the bench crying when he watches the ceremony.

Gustavsson showed up to the game last night with a flower reef over his head to honor Fleury a bit. Players, workers, and media wore little flowers on their suits and outfits to honor Fleury as well.

When it was all said and done, the Wild walked away with a much-needed win on an unbelievable night. With the 3-2 win the Wild are now three points out of a playoff spot in the West and are set to play in seven of their next nine games against teams they are chasing in the standings.

A win on the night in which the Wild celebrated Fleury against his former team, just makes it feel even sweeter.

“I’m happy it’s over. I was a little nervous for it,” Fleury said on the ceremony. “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 too. Old teammates. I don’t know, it gets me. But I think it was early in the game they got the power play just to move around a little bit. So that was good. Very grateful for the Wild organization and Penguins also for making this day so special for my family.”

The best part of it all was Fleury got to play and celebrate in front of his family which means more than the world to him. His kids even read the starting lineups for the Wild in the locker room and did the ‘lets play hockey’ before the fans.

“Whenever you have a family, and especially like little kids like he does at their ages, to have them part of your life and part of your career is special for everyone that’s kind of involved,” Bogosian said. “Everyone kind of chokes up a little bit. You see his kids out there and you see him on the Jumbotron. It’s special, it’s a family in this locker room. We all care for each other. Everyone kind of becomes an extended family once you’re within the walls of this room. So yeah, it definitely was emotional.”