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Alex Ovechkin might not have scored for the Washington Capitals on Thursday night, and Marc-Andre Fleury may have been the backup for the Minnesota Wild, but a great moment of respect was shown between the two legends after the Wild beat the Caps 4-2 at Xcel Energy Center.
Ovechkin orchestrated a team-wide handshake between Capitals players and Fleury, who faced Washington for the final time in his career on Thursday. Despite some players starting to head to the visitors locker room, The Great Eight led them in a line to shake Fleury's hand at center ice, per NHL.com's Tom Gulitti.
“We wanted to do that,” Caps coach Spencer Carbery said afterwards, per Gulitti. “[Ovechkin] had mentioned that this morning of [being] the last time going up against Marc-Andre and just paying the respects he deserves on the impressive career. He’s done so much. They’ve had so many battles. He’s had so many battles with the Caps, with [Ovechkin]. So, pretty classy to be able to send him off and just say how impressive a career he had.”
Ovechkin and Fleury have been battling for 20 seasons in the National Hockey League, and there is clearly a ton of respect between the two legends and shoo-in Hall of Famers.
Although Ovechkin plans to play for a couple more seasons, Fleury confirmed he will retire after finishing the 2024-25 campaign with Minnesota.
“It's awesome to see,” Wild D-man Jonas Brodin said, per Gulitti. “It's fun for him and I am happy for him. He's a great person and one of the best I have ever played with. So, it's pretty cool.”
Alex Ovechkin, Marc-Andre Fleury are 2 hockey legends
Ovechkin will go down as the greatest goal scorer in hockey history. Fleury is second in NHL regular-season wins at 573 and has won three Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, 2016 and 2017.
The Russian sits at 889 goals, six away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's record of 894. The Canadian has played more games than almost any other goaltender over 21 seasons with the Penguins, Vegas Golden Knights, Chicago Blackhawks and Wild.
“It’s almost 20 years that we play against each other,” Ovechkin said before the game. “Pittsburgh, Vegas, it’s been an honor to play against him.”
“I feel lucky I got to play so many games against him,” Fleury responded on Thursday morning. “Maybe not getting scored on so much by him but it was a good battle. It was good times. Fun. That’s what hockey’s all about.”
Ovechkin hasn't played more games than any other goalie, scoring 28 times in 47 contests against Fleury.
The National Hockey League will certainly miss the two once they have both retired. But both Ovechkin's Capitals and Fleury's Wild are slated to still be playing when the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs kick off next month.
Although it's unlikely, it would be quite the story if Washington and Minnesota were able to win three rounds and meet in the Stanley Cup Final come June.
