Fleury makes 26 saves for Wild, wins likely final game in Pittsburgh
Former Penguins goaltender won Stanley Cup 3 times after being selected No. 1 in 2003 NHL Draft
Wild at Penguins | Recap
PITTSBURGH — Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves in likely his final game at PPG Paints Arena, and the Minnesota Wild won 5-3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
Fleury won the Stanley Cup three times (2009, 2016, 2017) in 13 seasons with Pittsburgh after being selected No. 1 overall in the 2003 NHL Draft.
Frederick Gaudreau had two goals and an assist, and Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists for the Wild (6-1-2), who lost 7-5 at the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
Rickard Rakell scored twice, and Sidney Crosby had three assists for the Penguins (3-7-1), who have been outscored 27-13 in six straight losses. Joel Blomqvist made 35 saves.
Valtteri Puustinen put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 on a power play at 11:36 of the first period with a snap shot past a screen from Lars Eller.
Rakell made it 2-0 at 15:31, spinning in the slot for a snap shot.
Jakub Lauko and Gaudreau then scored 55 seconds apart. Lauko cut it to 2-1 at 17:03 with a sharp-angle wrist shot; Gaudreau flicked a shot from the right circle past the rookie’s blocker, tying it 2-2 at 17:58.
Gaudreau gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead on a breakaway at 1:38 of the second period with a wrist shot after Kaprizov intercepted a pass from Eller in the neutral zone.
Anthony Beauvillier was close to tying it three times in 10 seconds for the Penguins. He tipped one on goal at 14:40, had a wrist shot turned away at 14:46, and tapped a loose puck off the left post at 14:50.
Mats Zuccarello extended it to 4-2 at 19:23 by redirecting a spinning pass from Kaprizov for his fifth goal this season.
Rakell deflected a shot from Marcus Pettersson, cutting it to 4-3 at 3:36 of the third period with his sixth of the season.
Kaprizov scored an empty-net goal at 19:41 from the other end for the 5-3 final.