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Jan 15, 2024, 09:43 PM ET
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Marc-Andre Fleury took sole possession of second place with his 552nd win in the NHL, posting his 74th career shutout as the Minnesota Wild defeated the New York Islanders 5-0 on Monday.
Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice on special teams, Mats Zuccarello had a goal and an assist, and Connor Dewar and Marcus Foligno also scored for the Wild, who’d gone 1-7-1 in their previous nine games and enjoyed a much-needed celebration of the 39-year-old Fleury passing Patrick Roy on the all-time list.
“I’m glad it’s over, we can stop talking about it,” Fleury said in his on-ice, postgame interview. “It’s about time we got one, but it’s an honor to be here in Minnesota, to be in front of the fans. They’ve been great, and so, that’s awesome.”
Fleury stopped 21 shots in his first shutout of the season, after authoring a 1-4-1 stretch in his six previous starts.
“The way he played tonight, we had a few breakdowns, and you needed key saves at key times,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “And we got them from him.”
The crowd chanted Fleury’s name after a difficult power-play save in the second period, when the Wild outshot the sloppy and sluggish Islanders by a whopping 21-3.
“If you looked at how the team rushed out after the game to congratulate him, it shows what type of teammate he is, and what he means to the NHL and every organization he’s played for,” Hynes said. “He’s a special guy and a special player.”
The serenade for the popular French-Canadian nicknamed Flower arose again in the closing minutes, and the entire Wild team mobbed him in the crease for postgame hugs.
Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves in two periods for the Islanders, setting a career high by starting an 11th consecutive game. He’s the only goalie in the league who’s faced more than 1,000 shots to date, with an average of more than 34 allowed by the Islanders in his appearances this season.
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Publish date : 2024-01-16 02:47:53
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