Fleury nets historic win
Veteran just one of 13 NHL goaltenders to reach mark
PHILADELPHIA — Marc-andre Fleury has a great appreciation for hockey history.
He also enjoys making some history of his own.
Fleury’s stellar performance Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center put the 33-year-old goaltender in select company as he became just the 13th goalie to reach 400 wins in his NHL career after he stopped 38 shots and led the Golden Knights to a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
“It’s nice,” he said of the achievement. “Maybe it’s something I’ll be more proud of when I’m done. But I’m still playing so I’m looking forward to the next game.”
Among those Fleury joined in the 400-win club were Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, Terry Sawchuk, Jacques Plante, Tony Esposito, Glenn Hall and current contemporaries Roberto Luongo and Henrik Lundqvist.
“It’s a nice number to reach and all the guys in front of me I have great respect for and it’s cool to be part of that list,” Fleury said.
Ittooksomegritonthepartof Fleury’s teammates to help him get the win as the Knights wrapped up their five-game road trip 4-1. Coach Gerard Gallant had shortened his bench and moved Pierre-edouard Bellemareuptoplaywithcody Eakin and Ryan Carpenter late in the game. The trio forechecked effectively, pressuring the Philadelphia defense and maintaining possession which led to Carpenter getting the puck from Eakin and beating Flyers goaltender Petr Mrazek with 2:40 to play.
KNIGHTS
“Those are the ones you practice and it’s nice when you bury them in the game,” Carpenter said of his winner, which was his eighth goal of the season. “But if it wasn’t for ‘Flower,’ we wouldn’t have won the game.”
The Knights had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 on goals from Erik Haula and William Karlsson, both coming on