Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishST. PAUL, Minn. — After the heart-thumping way the Minnesota Wild clinched a playoff berth, Marc-Andre Fleury figured he’d get to relax in overtime.The drama was already over, right? The “choose your hard” Wild decided 22 seconds left in the 82-game season was the fitting time to finally seal their trip to the postseason. Joel Eriksson Ek’s goal with the extra attacker forced overtime against the Anaheim Ducks and gave the Wild the 1 point they needed to earn a first-round matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights. They got another on Matt Boldy’s overtime winner.Rarely would the biggest goal in Minnesota’s season get overshadowed.But thanks to Filip Gustavsson, it did. This was and likely always will be remembered as Fleury’s surprise swan song.During a brief intermission before the extra session, Gustavsson came back to the bench and tagged in his goalie partner, requesting a hook from coach John Hynes.“We got in. Do you think we could put ‘Flower’ in?” Gustavsson asked.“Yeah,” Hynes said. “Great idea.”Fleury said he was surprised: “Little shocked, little worried.” He had sat on the bench for a few hours and had made only two starts in the past 21 days. But in four minutes and 42 seconds of overtime, Fleury put on a nostalgic display of classic moves from his Hall of Fame-caliber career. The pokecheck. The sprawling two-pad stack. The shove in front. The “thank you” tapping the post.“Might as well have some fun,” Fleury said.
Fleury with a big save early in overtime pic.twitter.com/vnttPJnRmd
— Shayna (@shaynagoldman_) April 16, 2025Fleury made five saves, including during a Ducks power play, giving him win No. 575. Just when many thought his final regular-season appearance would be mop-up duty Friday in Calgary or giving up seven in last week’s home start, Fleury showed he had a little magic left. Once Boldy scored the overtime winner, the Wild bench emptied and piled on Fleury, not the Wild’s star winger. The Ducks lined up to shake Fleury’s hand, like many other visiting teams did on this season’s farewell tour. The sellout crowd of 19,029 gave Fleury a standing ovation as teammates made a circle for sticktaps and, eventually, a mini-bow. They sprayed him with a water bottle shower, too.But the watery eyes after the game were from emotion. His wife and kids got to see him one last time.“It was fun to just go one more time out there and play the game I love,” he said.The Wild move on to face one of Fleury’s former teams, the Golden Knights, with the series expected to open Sunday at T-Mobile Arena. Much like its season, Minnesota took an adversity-filled, roundabout way of getting there, though. The Wild entered the night needing at least a point to clinch the playoff spot. The hard-charging Flames could have knocked them out with back-to-back wins if the Wild lost to the Ducks in regulation. Calgary won again in comeback fashion Tuesday, applying even more pressure.And the Wild looked like they were going to let this one go. The Ducks scored on a two-on-one with just over 11 minutes to go when Sam Colangelo finished a rush started on a Jake Middleton pinch. Minnesota kept pushing, pulling Gustavsson with 1:30 to go, needing a goal to save its season.“Just praying,” Marcus Foligno said. “Just trying to really hope to God we kept the puck in and got momentum. I mean, those guys on the ice are pretty special.”There was Kirill Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek, two key cogs who had missed most of the last two to three months with injuries. This was the first time since Nov. 11 that Minnesota had its full, healthy lineup together.“Insane, right?” Fleury said.On the goal, Zuccarello collected a rim off the boards on the left side and sent a perfect centering feed to Boldy. Boldy then found Eriksson Ek on the back post for the photo finish. “It felt good to see that puck go in,” Eriksson Ek said.
the biggest goal of the Wild’s season is an absolute beauty. Zuccarello and Boldy with great passes to set up Eriksson Ek pic.twitter.com/gLXlMBDbEw
— Shayna (@shaynagoldman_) April 16, 2025“I’m forever grateful for those six guys that were on the ice with 20 seconds left,” Middleton said. “(Losing) wasn’t our fate. I think our fate was winning the game like we did. Maybe it was fate to go to overtime and get Flower in the net the way we did, too. What an all-class move by Gus, too.”Fleury said what he loves the most about this team is its spirit of “never quitting.” Not after a world-beating first two months of the season led to a second-half slog full of injuries and inconsistency. Not after Kaprizov’s and Eriksson Ek’s injuries nearly derailed its season. Not after falling behind 2-0 in the third period of Saturday’s must-win game in Vancouver. And definitely not Tuesday, which gave Fleury another chance.Whether Fleury plays again remains to be seen. But if not, the fans and his kids get to remember him this way.After Foligno gave him the “HARD” chain as player of the game, Fleury got a little emotional in his speech. The three-time Cup champ is ready for one last ride.“I love you guys. Keep it going,” Fleury told the group. “Make this thing go as long as you can. Not for me. I want to be part of it. You never know when your next chance (is) in the playoffs. Happy to be here, happy to be with you guys.“Let’s (f—ing) make it last, boys.”
the most deserving in the world 🌸 pic.twitter.com/tsoFynJYQL
— x – Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 16, 2025(Photo: Matt Blewett / Imagn Images)
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