Elliotte Friedman makes his thoughts known about Marc-Andre Fleury's 'fairy-tail' NHL record as 40-year-old in final Montreal game

Marc-Andre Fleury of the Minnesota Wild, had a special night on Thursday, Jan. 30, shutting out the Montreal Canadiens 4-0. Fleury, 40, may have played his final game in Montreal, near his hometown of Sorel, Quebec. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman called it a “fairy tale” on Friday's episode of the "32 Thoughts" podcast.

“Which fairy tale Do you want to call that? Because that was a fairy tale game. Was it Cinderella? Was it still white in the Seven Dwarfs? Was it Sleeping Beauty? I don't know, name your fairy tale. It was that you couldn't write it," Friedman said, "You couldn't write a better story. You know, you really couldn't. And you could see how emotional he was…" [46:50]

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 19 shots he faced, earning his first shutout of the season. He became the first goalie in NHL history to record a shutout both as a teenager and at age 40. His performance helped Minnesota secure second place in the Central Division.

Friedman said Wild players were honored to share this season with Fleury.

"Foligno admitted it is that the wild players were kind of honored that Fleury wanted to spend his last year with them, Like they get to see all this stuff, right? And you know how jacked up they were to play this game for Fleury, 19 saves all he had to make, gets the shout-out like there was. You realized early in that game, Kyle, there was no way that they were losing that game, none.”

After the game, Canadiens players lined up to shake Fleury’s hand, and fans gave him a loud ovation. It was an emotional moment, as Fleury is expected to retire after this season.

Fleury has won five of his last seven starts. He has an 11-5-1 record with a 2.60 goals-against average this season. Minnesota will next play against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

Marc-Andre Fleury secured his 76th career shutout in 4-0 win for the Wild

The Minnesota Wild won 4-0 against the Montreal Canadiens, earning their third straight victory. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 19 shots, earning his 76th career shutout.

Liam Ohgren scored the first goal at 3:41 of the second period with a wrist shot after the goalie lost his stick. Marco Rossi made it 2-0 at 5:47, scoring on a wrist shot from a pass by Marcus Foligno. In the third period, Devin Shore extended the lead to 3-0 at 5:56 after stealing the puck from Alex Newhook. Frederick Gaudreau scored an empty-net goal at 18:33, securing the 4-0 win.