The Minnesota Wild honoured Marc-André Fleury in a beautiful way after clinching their playoff spot last night in a game against the Anaheim Ducks.
The Wild came into last night's game only one point away from clinching their playoff spot, and they accomplished their goal by beating the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in overtime.
Joel Eriksson Ek, who came back into the lineup last week after missing months due to an injury, scored the game-tying goal in the last few seconds of the game to help his team clinch the playoff spot.
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With their ticket for the playoffs already confirmed, the Wild made a nice gesture to Marc-André Fleury, who was working as auxiliary goalie that night.
The Wild head coach John Hynes decided to send Fleury on the ice for the overtime period, a final regular-season appearance for the goalie.
Set to retire at the end of the current season, last night's was Fleury's last regular-season game of his career, and Hynes' gesture went a long way with Fleury and his fans.
With the win, Fleury tallied his 71st overtime loss, extending his NHL record.
The goalie offered comments in his post-game interview:
'It was fun. It was fun just to go one more time out there and play the game I love. That was cool.'
Unless there's an injury to the Wild's number one goalie, Filip Gustavsson, in the playoffs, this could be his last appearance in the NHL.
Gustavsson is likely to get all the starts in the playoffs, leaving Fleury to sit for the playoffs, even if the Wild confirmed that they'll face the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round, Fleury's former team.
After the game, John Hynes reflected on the night and talked about the team's position to compete for a Stanley Cup.
'It took some competitive stamina for us to be able to get it, obviously with the 82nd game and 20 seconds left in the game, but I think it was good. I'm really happy for the guys. We battled hard throughout the year. Another hard-fought game tonight and found a way to win it, and now we've got a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup.'
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