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Alex Ovechkin Pulls Capitals Back on Ice to Honor Marc-Andre Fleury

Alex Ovechkin made sure his Washington Capitals teammates gave Minnesota Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury a proper goodbye.

Nick Horwat

Mar 27, 2025; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) and Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) shake hands after the game at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Mar 27, 2025; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) and Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) shake hands after the game at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
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Minnesota Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is playing in his final season in the NHL and many teams and players have found ways to honor or congratulate the future Hall of Famer on an incredible career. While Fleury has been serving as the backup for the Wild for most of the season, a former bitter rival took the time to honor one of the greatest goalies of all time.

Following the Wild’s victory over the Washington Capitals, Alex Ovechkin made sure his teammates lined up to shake Fleury’s hand. In a single file line led by Ovechkin, each member of the Capitals lineup trotted back onto the ice to meet and congratulate Fleury following his likely last meeting against Washington.

Most of the Capitals were in the midst of walking to the locker room following the loss, but Ovechkin skated over and made sure everyone turned around and came back to the ice.

Ovechkin has been captain of the Capitals since the 2009-10 season and has been a true leader in Washington ever since. Him pulling his team back onto the ice following a loss to honor an all-time great is another example of that.

Fleury played 13 seasons backstopping one of the Capitals’ biggest rivals in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Over those years, the Penguins and Capitals built one of the NHL’s best and most entertaining rivalries, and Fleury and Ovechkin were key pieces of each team’s success.

Even after Fleury’s tenure in Pittsburgh came to an end, Fleury and Ovechkin met on the game’s biggest stage. In his first season with the Vegas Golden Knights, Fleury met Ovechkin and the Capitals in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.

The Capitals went on to win, but it was another outstanding chapter in the story of the Fleury/Ovechkin rivalry. Over the course of his now 21-year career, Fleury has played 47 games against the Capitals with a 28-14-3 record.

Ovechkin is also in the midst of chasing down the NHL’s all-time goals record. Sitting at 889, Ovechkin needs just six more to surpass Wayne Gretzky.

A whopping 28 of Ovechkin’s 889 goals have come against Fleury, more than any other goalie Ovechkin has faced.

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Nick Horwat
NICK HORWAT

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