Marc-Andre Fleury flashed his distinctive smile repeatedly as he entered PPG Paints Arena ahead of Tuesday’s puck drop against the Pittsburgh Penguins, his former club.

A tribute video that was shown mid-game further highlighted Fleury’s trademark jovial nature, in addition to penchant for pranking teammates over the years.

But an extended ovation from Penguins fans in the first period brought out a different batch of emotions for Fleury, who started in net for the visiting Minnesota Wild.

During a pause in play, with the Penguins on the man-advantage, Fleury’s tribute video was shown, challenging the 39-year-old Fleury to balance his appreciation of the gesture and fans’ loud ovation with needing to shut down a power play.

“I didn’t want to watch or look because my first time back here (on Feb. 6, 2018, after being acquired by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft), I looked and I had watery eyes and couldn’t see,” Fleury said. “I just told the ref, ‘Drop the puck. Let’s go!’”

Fleury, the Penguins’ first overall pick in 2003 who played in Pittsburgh for 13 seasons through 2016-17, winning three Stanley Cup titles, announced in the spring that he plans to retire after the 2024-25 campaign.

With Tuesday marking Fleury’s likely final visit to Pittsburgh as a player, the Penguins went all out to honor their franchise leader in wins by a goalie (375).

“Hard to believe it’s the last time,” he said postgame, fighting back tears. “So appreciative from the bottom of my heart with everybody over the years, the support.”

Fleury’s first trip back to Pittsburgh after joining Vegas went badly on an individual note, as he allowed five goals in a 5-4 Penguins victory in early 2018.

But Tuesday, the night totally belonged to the Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, native as he made 26 saves on 29 shots, helping Minnesota (5-1-2) to a 5-3 win.

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On the year, Fleury, who ranks second all-time in NHL history with 563 career wins, trailing only Martin Brodeur, is 2-0-1 with a 2.93 goals-against average and .899 save percentage.

Fleury let up the game’s first two goals, with Valtteri Puustinen and Rickard Rakell making it 2-0 Penguins in the first period, but the Wild managed four unanswered goals from there.

“It was OK,” Fleury said of his performance. “You always want to stop them all and like I said, I wasn’t at my most comfortable in this game. It was a battle – the guys battled. Down two goals, they fought back.”

Following the game, Fleury received additional ovations from the PPG Paints Arena crowd, who cheered him on as he skated around the ice for the final time in Pittsburgh.

Fleury was also embraced by longtime former teammates Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang, who stayed on the ice to say farewell before leaving Fleury to celebrate the moment and win with Minnesota.

While the loss dropped the Penguins to 3-6-1, Crosby still managed to appreciate the evening and what it meant for Fleury, both of whom, along with Letang and Evgeni Malkin, were the main architects in drastically reversing the franchise’s fortunes during their time together.

“(The loss) aside, it’s a great way to celebrate,” Crosby said. “The fans had great ovations with the videos and things like that. He means a lot to the team, the fans, the organization, to the guys that played with him. Probably mixed emotions. Happy he had the opportunity to play in this game and get that kind of ovation. Then, obviously sad to see that it’s his last year. He’s a great goalie and a great guy.”

This season marks Fleury’s fourth with the Wild and the ninth since he left Pittsburgh.

Regardless of the passage of so much time, Fleury still looks back on his Penguins days fondly.

“It feels so weird,” Fleury said. “Not comfortable – family was here, friends were here. We all have great memories from here, so it means a lot.”

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