Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin classy tribute honors Marc-Andre Fleury: ‘You’ve just got to respect greatness’
The NHL handshake line is one of the greatest traditions in sports; it is a perfect display of sportsmanship and respect at the end of each Stanley Cup Playoff series, no matter how hard fought, nor how much the two teams may dislike each other.
However, an impromptu regular-season handshake line took place Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center.
Filip Gustavsson picked up the win in the Minnesota Wild’s 4-2 victory over the Washington Capitals, but as the Caps headed for the locker room, Alex Ovechkin waved them back on the ice to shake hands with Minnesota’s backup goalie.
With Marc-Andre Fleury set to retire at the end of this season, Thursday night marked the final matchup between Ovechkin and Fleury in their long-running personal rivalry. As the Wild celebrated their win, Ovechkin and the rest of the Capitals lined up on their side of the red line.
Fleury skated over, shook hands with the line-leader Ovechkin, then made his way down the rest of the line.
“I think he deserves all the accolades that he’s gotten. He continues to play well. I think he’s been a great teammate everywhere that he’s been,” Wild coach John Hynes said about Fleury. “He’s been a tremendous competitor to compete against. And obviously the quality of a human being that he is, all those things combined, I think we’re witnessing in part of a Hall of Fame player, a Hall of Fame person.”
Fleury will go down as one of the greatest goaltenders the NHL has ever seen; he’s third in NHL history for the most career wins by a goalie, including playoffs, with 665. Along the way, he’s also hoisted the Stanley Cup three times with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and won the Vezina Trophy in the 2020-21 season with the Vegas Golden Knights.
“Fleury’s played a lot of games in this league and has had some really good series with the Caps,” Washington forward Dylan Strome said postgame. “It’s one of those things where you’ve just got to respect greatness and Fleury’s been great his whole career.”
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Postgame gesture provides storybook ending to Alex Ovechkin – Marc-Andre Fleury rivalry
Ovechkin and Fleury, two future first ballot Hall of Famers, played key roles in the marquee NHL rivalry of the late 2000s and early 2010s between the Capitals and Penguins. The respect is there between the two hockey legends.
“Obviously, he’s one of the best goalies to ever play,” Ovechkin said before the game Thursday. “It was a pretty good battle out there between me and him … It’s almost 20 years that we’ve played against each other. Pittsburgh, Vegas, it’s been an honor to play against him.”
As the faces of the NHL, Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby fostered an iconic rivalry between the Penguins and Capitals, often matching up in the playoffs for much-anticipated series.
“Those were the games I loved playing because the intensity was always high and the atmosphere in the building, both sides, was always good too,” Fleury said.
Pittsburgh often got the best of Washington; the Penguins defeated the Capitals three separate times in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, each time en-route to winning the Stanley Cup later in the postseason.
In 2018, the Capitals finally got their revenge, defeating the Penguins in six games in the second round on their way to winning the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. But Fleury was not a part of the second-round series – he had been scooped up by Vegas in the 2017 expansion draft.
But that meant he was the losing goalie in the Cup Final, because Washington bested Vegas in five games, despite Fleury’s heroics. Ovechkin tallied three goals and two assists in the series.
While Fleury’s been receiving accolades throughout this season as he makes his final lap through the League, Ovechkin’s been front and center in his chase to become the all-time goals leader in NHL history. He currently sits six away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 goals with 10 games remaining on the Capitals schedule this season.
For the record, Ovechkin scored more goals against Fleury (28) than any other goalie. This season, he’s added seven more goalies to that list and has a whopping 36 goals in 56 games, despite missing 16 due to injury.
“I feel fortunate I was able to play in his time,” Fleury said of Ovechkin earlier in the season. “He probably owes me a few things for scoring so many goals on me. I helped him out pretty good. I’m glad I got to face him. He’s one of the best and always brings the best out of you. It’s been fun battles with him.”
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