Sidney Crosby said it felt like playoff hockey had returned to Pittsburgh on Saturday night when a sold-out preseason crowd turned up at PPG Paints Arena to watch former Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury compete in what could be his final NHL game.
Fleury reunited with former teammates including Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang in a 4-1 exhibition win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“Every time he touched the puck, it was pretty cool. Reception was unreal. It felt like a playoff game,” Crosby said after the win (h/t 93.7 The Fan).
Crosby continued, “I’ve been fortunate to be a part of some cool games, but yeah, that’s definitely up there.”
Fleury, who signed a professional tryout contract with his former team earlier this offseason, made his return to the Penguins in the third period of the exhibition game.
The Penguins had spotted him a 2-1 lead by his arrival thanks to second-period goals from Crosby and Rickard Rakell.
Fleury went on to make eight saves on eight shots in a performance that earned him chants of “one more year” from the packed crowd.
Fleury then participated in an exhibition shootout, where he gave his signature thanks to the goalpost for helping him on a stop:
Blue Jackets center Luca Del Bel Belluz then scored a shootout goal that earned boos from the packed crowd.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been in a building that loud before… I think maybe I’ll get booed every time I come here now, I don’t know,” Del Bel Belluz said after the game, per BlueJackets.com’s Jeff Svoboda.
Fleury has spent the past nine seasons playing for the Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild, in addition to a brief stint with the Chicago Blackhawks.
But the majority of his NHL career took place in Pittsburgh, where he was drafted as the top pick in 2003 and starred in the Penguins’ first Stanley Cup win of the post-Mario Lemieux era in 2009.
Fleury went on to play a key role in the Penguins’ back-to-back Cup wins in 2016 and 2017 before he was selected by the Golden Knights in the 2017 expansion draft.
He still stands today as the Penguins’ all-time leader in wins (375) and shutouts (44).
Although Fleury officially retired last spring after closing out his 21st NHL season with the Wild, his return to Pittsburgh sparked rumors he might be considering returning for his age-41 campaign. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported Thursday he believes teams “will try to convince Fleury out of retirement in January.”
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