Marc-André Fleury is one of the most well-liked figures in the NHL. He’s not only one of the greatest goaltenders of his generation, but he’s also a great guy off the ice, and everyone that’s played with him says the same thing: Few guys in the league make their teammates laugh as much as ”Flower.”
Of course, Fleury is known for his goalkeeping abilities, but he’s also a jokester. This summer, he pulled a great prank on former teammate Sidney Crosby, for example. You just never know what will happen when talking about Marc-André Fleury, and the same thing goes on the ice. Fleury has won three Cups, and you don’t do that unless you have a winning mentality.
Fleury has always played with a great temper, and although he’s now 37 years old, he hasn’t lost that spark. But it’s not often he angers his opponents.
However, last night showed an example of that. The Minnesota Wild were up 2-1 against the Montreal Canadiens in the third period when Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher exploded in rage after a move from Fleury that we don’t see that often.
Brandon Duhaime first took down Gallagher as the Canadiens player skated full speed toward the goal. The interception by Duhaine was clean, as he got all puck, but Gallagher crashed into Marc-André Fleury, and the goalie wasn’t happy.
The goalie put his blocker on Gallagher’s head, and as the Canadiens forward tried to stand up, his helmet went flying off. Gallagher was outrageous that the refs didn’t call a penalty on Fleury and tried to explain to them what just happened.
Fleury didn’t seem to bother, and the refs didn’t blow the whistle. Gallagher went on to slam the door of his bench behind him in anger when he left the ice. Instead of a penalty for Fleury and a man advantage for the Canadiens, Minnesota could score an empty netter with 30 seconds on the clock and won the game 3-1.
It was a well-needed win for the Wild and Fleury, who’s had a rough start to the season.
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