Marc-Andre Fleury achieved another milestone in his storied NHL career with a smile. “I think it just means I’m old, maybe,” Fleury joked after recording a shutout against his 28th different team, setting a new NHL record. “I have been playing for a while, I guess.”
Fleury’s 72nd regular season shutout helped the Minnesota Wild secure a 1-0 win against the Seattle Kraken on Friday night, ending Seattle’s five-game win streak. The victory was sealed by Mats Zuccarello’s goal late in the first period.
Fleury had previously shared the record for shutting out 27 teams with Ed Belfour, Dominik Hasek, Martin Brodeur, and Tomas Vokoun. The only teams he hasn’t shut out are Columbus, St. Louis, Vegas, and Minnesota.
Fleury made 28 saves, excelling in the third period as Seattle pressed for an equalizer. In the final seconds, he made crucial stops on shots from Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde, earning his first shutout in his 22nd regular season game with the Wild.
“It just seems like when we play them at home or here, it’s boring a bit, and there’s not too much action on either side,” Fleury noted. “We played a little defensive and didn’t give them much. It’s good. It gives us a chance to win every night when we do that.”
Fleury, who had four shutouts last season with Chicago before being traded to Minnesota, allowed one goal or fewer in three of his last four starts after conceding 24 goals in his first seven games this season.
Zuccarello scored his sixth goal of the season at 18:19 of the first period, finding open space in the slot and beating Seattle goalie Martin Jones. Jones made 20 saves, including a key stop on Mason Shaw’s short-handed breakaway early in the third period, but the Kraken couldn’t find the tying goal.
“We couldn’t find a way to get one in behind, so it’s that kind of night,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “You got to find a dirty one, a greasy one somewhere, and we couldn’t do that tonight.”
The Kraken’s longest win streak in franchise history came to an end. They had recently defeated Minnesota 4-0, where Fleury was the goaltender, but this time, he wouldn’t let that happen again.
“He admitted he was trying to do a little bit too much instead of just do his job. We all did. When we get back to doing your job, committing to that, as he has, it gives us a chance to win every night,” Minnesota coach Dean Evason commented.
Minnesota’s goal was set up by Jon Merrill’s cross-ice pass that ricocheted off the side boards to Zuccarello, who was unmarked in the slot. His wrist shot beat Jones, with Merrill earning his first point of the season and Kirill Kaprizov adding an assist for his 16th point in 14 games.
Game Notes
Seattle played without Jamie Oleksiak, who is on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. Cale Fleury played his first game of the season, and Gustav Olofsson was recalled from Coachella Valley. In recovering from an upper-body injury, Minnesota forward Jordan Greenway had a setback and may need more time to rehabilitate. Seattle defenseman Adam Larsson played his 700th career game.
UP NEXT
Wild: Minnesota returns home to host San Jose on Sunday.
Kraken: Seattle hosts Winnipeg on Sunday.
