Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) defends the net against the New York Islanders during the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Stacy Bengs)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Marc-Andre Fleury took sole possession of second place with his 552nd win in the NHL, posting his 74th career shutout as the Minnesota Wild beat the New York Islanders 5-0 on Monday.
Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice on special teams, Mats Zuccarello had a goal and an assist, and Connor Dewar and Marcus Foligno also scored for the Wild, who’d gone 1-7-1 in their previous nine games and enjoyed a much-needed celebration of the 39-year-old Fleury passing Patrick Roy on the all-time list.
“Finally, right? It’s been a little rough, lately. I wish we could have done this a little while ago, right?” Fleury said. “But I think everybody knows, everyone in this room, that we try to work our best.”
Martin Brodeur holds the record with 691 wins.
Fleury stopped 21 shots in his first shutout of the season. He was 1-4-1 in his six previous starts. The crowd chanted Fleury’s name after a difficult power-play save in the second period when the Wild outshot the sloppy and sluggish Islanders by a whopping 21-3. The serenade for the popular French-Canadian nicknamed Flower arose again in the closing minutes, and the entire Wild team mobbed him in the crease for postgame hugs.
Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves in two periods for the Islanders, setting a career-high by starting an 11th consecutive game. He’s the only goalie in the league who’s faced more than 1,000 shots to date, with an average of more than 34 allowed by the Islanders in his appearances this season.
“I just didn’t like our effort at all. I didn’t think we were 100% committed to playing the game the right way right from the start, and it just kind of snowballed,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said.
Kenneth Appleby took over in net after the second intermission,…
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