ST. PAUL, Minn. — Marc-Andre Fleury became the fourth goalie in NHL history to play in 1,000 games on Sunday in the Minnesota Wild‘s game against the Winnipeg Jets.
Martin Brodeur (1,266 games), Roberto Luongo (1,044) and Patrick Roy (1,029) are the only goalies to have played in more games than the 39-year-old Fleury, who is in his third season with the Wild. He spent the bulk of his career in Pittsburgh, making 691 appearances in 13 seasons with the Penguins.
“Obviously very flattered by the reception from the crowd, from my teammates. It means a lot,” Fleury said. “I feel very fortunate that I’ve played for so long, and I got to do what I love for many years. I’m lucky for that.”
Fleury took a “solo lap” before the Wild took the ice for the first period, a hockey tradition for players either making their NHL debut or on the brink of a milestone. He hopped onto the ice amid cheers and responded by firing a wrist shot into an open net before his teammates joined him.
The Wild later showed a video in the arena, featuring Brodeur, Luongo and Roy offering their congratulations.
“Really impressive,” Brodeur said. “Welcome to the club, buddy.”
Fleury began the game third on the all-time victories list with 550, trailing Brodeur (691) and Roy (551). The Jets prevented him from tying Roy with a 3-2 victory.
“He’s got 999 other ones he can probably celebrate,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry, who beat Fleury for his 100th career goal on Sunday. “That’s a tremendous accomplishment, an amazing career, and it was pretty cool to be able to share the ice with a guy like that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com