Wild's Marc-Andre Fleury becomes fourth goalie with 1,000 games played

With his appearance in the Minnesota Wild’s 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, Marc-Andre Fleury has officially joined one of the most exclusive clubs in all of hockey, playing in his 1,000th NHL game on Sunday afternoon. 

While hundreds of skaters have managed the feat, only three other goaltenders have had careers long enough and performances strong enough to reach the mark — Martin Brodeur (1,266 Games), Roberto Luongo (1,044) and Patrick Roy (1,029). 

The trio is arguably three of the best goaltenders of all time and will now be joined by Fleury, whose 55% win-percentage is the highest of any of the four goalies.

Fleury’s path to this milestone came largely thanks to his 13 years with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where the French Canadian was able to become the winningest goalie in club history with 375 wings through a team-high 691 games played. But it was Fleury’s postseason performances that turned him into a legend for one of the league’s most prolific clubs. 

Fleury established himself as the team’s long-term starter in the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs, carrying the Penguins to the Stanley Cup Final thanks to a dazzling .933 save percentage in 20 starts. He immediately became the guy in the 2008-09 season, ranking eighth in the league with 62 games played. 

The major uptick in ice time didn’t faze Fleury, who held it together enough to record a .908 save percentage in 24 games during the 2009 playoffs, helping lift the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup in 17 years.

But as much as it built up his early career, postseason performances were also the downfall of Fleury’s time in Pittsburgh, who ultimately lost his starting role to the hot hand of rookie Matt Murray during the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Murray would go on to lead the Penguins to another Stanley Cup win, on the back of a .923 save percentage in 21 games. 

Fleury would continue in Pittsburgh for one more season, platooning with Murray during the 2017 postseason, but the writing was on the wall — and after Murray won over the starting role en route to a second Cup, it was time for Fleury to move on. The Penguins traded the Vegas Golden Knights a second-round draft pick to incentivize them to take Fleury int he 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.

The Golden Knights were quickly rewarded for taking the veteran, with Fleury bouncing immediately back to his postseason form — leading Vegas to the Stanley Cup Final in their first year with a .927 save percentage in 20 games. 

He continued to thrive in the postseason with Vegas, setting a combined .914 save percentage over his next three seasons with the team, which saw 27 playoff games.

Fleury moved away from the Golden Knights in 2021, briefly joining the Chicago Blackhawks before being traded to the Minnesota Wild for a conditional second-round pick. Now 39 years old, Fleury is relishing on a successful .905 save percentage and 39-23-6 record in three years with the Wild. He’s lost the everyday starter role to Filip Gustavsson but still boasts an .893 in 14 games this year.

It’s been a prolific career for Fleury, emphasized by a gold medal win at the 2010 Winter Olympics and a Vezina Trophy and William Jennings Trophy win in the 2020-21 season. Fleury is set to become a free agent at the end of this season. 

If he decides to call it a career, he will be retiring as one of the winningest goaltenders of all time — one of only 21 goaltenders to win three or more Stanley Cups and ranked in the top 10 of all-time wins. 

The question now becomes whether his 1,000th game can combine with all of his other accolades to earn Fleury a Hall of Fame induction.