Goalkeeper Marc-André Fleury wants the Minnesota Wild's hectic playoffs to last until the end.
The Quebec goaltender's priority is crystal clear: he wants to play spring ball with the Minnesota team.
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“I don’t want to just give up, do I?” he said in an interview with The Athletic on Sunday. I like that. I like boys. It's a great group of people. When you're so close, you want to do everything for each other. It’s also been fun to earn a little more lately.”
After a difficult start to the season, the Wild have started winning again and are 23-14-2 since John Hynes arrived on the bench in November. Thanks to this positive development, Fleury's teammates are now just two points away from the eighth and final place, which will give them access to the Western Association playoffs.
“If we were last in the conference, maybe it would be a little different,” admitted the man who now has 556 career wins in the National Hockey League. But it's my team. We fought together, didn't we? I'm proud to win with this team. I want us to make the playoffs. That’s my first priority.”
This season, the 39-year-old goaltender has a 12-10-3 record, a 2.92 goals-against average and an .899 efficiency percentage.
As for his team, it will come out on top again on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes.