Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury ties Patrick Roy for second all-time with 551 NHL wins
Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury recorded his 551st career National Hockey League victory on Saturday night, tying Patrick Roy for the second-most in league history.
Fleury, 39, stopped 25 of 28 shots to backstop the Wild to a 4-3 overtime victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday at Nationwide Arena.
His best save came with the Wild trailing 3-2 late in the third period. Fleury had begun to make his way off the ice for an extra attacker before being forced to return to his crease and make a spectacular diving save on Blue Jackets attacker Justin Danforth; moments later, Marcus Johansson scored for Minnesota to force overtime.
Marco Rossi ultimately tallied his 11th goal of the season in the extra frame to seal Minnesotaβs 17th win of the season β and the 551st regular-season victory of Fleuryβs terrific career.
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β Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) January 7, 2024Fleury and Roy are now tied for second place on the NHLβs list of the most winningest goaltenders behind Martin Brodeur, who racked up a staggering 691 of them over his long NHL career with the New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues.
Itβs certainly unlikely that Fleury will catch Brodeur in the top spot of that list, but heβs just one win away from passing Roy entirely to stand alone in second place. Fleury is 7-8-2 with an .896 save percentage in 18 games with the Wild this season.
The Pittsburgh Penguins originally selected Fleury with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NHL Draft, and he remains the last goaltender to be picked first overall to this day. Fleury had his ups and downs with the Penguins but won the Stanley Cup three times wtf the team and also won an Olympic gold medal in 2014 as a reserve goaltender with Team Canada.
The Vegas Golden Knights claimed Fleury from the Penguins in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. The veteran keeper helped instill an immediate sense of legitimacy into the franchise, backstopping the team to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018 and winning the Vezina Trophy in 2021 as the leagueβs top goaltender.
After a brief stint with the Chicago Blackhawks, Fleury joined the Wild ahead of the 2022 trade deadline and subsequently formed a strong tandem with young goaltender Filip Gustavsson. Fleury has taken a larger share of the workload of late as Gustavsson has continued to recover from an injury.
Through 1,003 career games with the Penguins, Golden Knights, Blackhawks, and Wild since making his NHL debut in the 2003β04 season, Fleury has put together a 551-323-93 record to go along with 73 shutouts and a .912 save percentage. Heβs also appeared in 169 career playoff games, winning 92.