Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves for his first shutout of the season in likely his final game in Montreal, helping the Minnesota Wild beat the Canadiens 4-0 on Thursday night.
The 40-year-old Fleury, from Sorel-Tracy about 50 miles northeast of Montreal, is retiring after the season. He has 76 career shutouts — three at Bell Centre, where more than 100 friends and family cheered him Thursday.
"I always loved, you know, battling and the tough moment and trying to come back," Fleury said after the game. "Like I said, I was a little stressed for this game. I've been playing my last one here at home in Quebec, right in front of my family, in front of my friends. Yeah, so it was, I'm glad everything went well."
Liam Ohgren and Devin Shore each scored their first goal of the season. Marco Rossi had a goal and an assist and Frederick Gaudreau added an empty-netter.
The Wild improved to 3-0 on their five-game trip. They beat Chicago 4-2 on Sunday night and topped Toronto 3-1 on Wednesday night.
Takeaways
Fleury improved to 11-5-1 this season, his 21st in the NHL.
Key moment
The crowd roared for more than 30 seconds when the camera flipped to Fleury during the signing of “O Canada.” Canadiens fans serenaded Fleury with another lengthy ovation during a TV timeout late in the third period before chanting “Fleury! Fleury!”
Key stat
Fleury is 13-6-5 in Montreal during the regular season and 28-13-8 against the Canadiens.
Up next
Minnesota Wild (31-17-4, in the Central Division) vs. Ottawa Senators (27-20-4, in the Atlantic Division)
Ottawa, Ontario; Saturday, 6 p.m. (CT)
BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Wild visit the Ottawa Senators trying to continue a three-game win streak.
Ottawa has gone 15-7-2 in home games and 27-20-4 overall. The Senators have conceded 139 goals while scoring 141 for a +2 scoring differential.
Minnesota is 31-17-4 overall and 20-5-3 in road games. The Wild are 29-3-2 when scoring at least three goals.
The teams square off Saturday for the second time this season. The Senators won the previous matchup 3-1.
TOP PERFORMERS: Brady Tkachuk has 19 goals and 18 assists for the Senators. Joshua Norris has four goals and three assists over the past 10 games.
Matthew Boldy has 18 goals and 27 assists for the Wild. Mats Zuccarello has two goals and seven assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Senators: 7-2-1, averaging 2.2 goals, 3.9 assists, 3.8 penalties and nine penalty minutes while giving up 2.1 goals per game.
Wild: 5-5-0, averaging 2.7 goals, 4.4 assists, 3.5 penalties and 8.5 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.
INJURIES: Senators: None listed.
Wild: None listed.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.