Marc-Andre Fleury Jokes He Gave 'Boost' to Ovechkin's Goal Chase

History is six goals away for Washington Capitals future Hall of Famer Alex Ovechkin. 

Ovechkin scored in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets to crawl another step closer to breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record, which would be netting a grand total of 894.

Minnesota Wild goaltender and fellow future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury has played against Ovechkin dating back to the latter's rookie campaign in 2005-06.

In turn, no other goaltender has allowed more goals to Ovechkin than Fleury (28).

"I think I gave him a bit of a boost," Fleury said to NHL.com. "'Ovi' scored a lot of goals against me. I know I'm the one he's scored the most goals against. But on the flip side, I'm happy to have played so many games against him. There was such a great rivalry with the Caps and with Ovi."

The Capitals will face the Wild on Thursday, but Fleury is not expected to start. The two, however, did face one another earlier this season on Jan. 2 when Fleury made 28 saves and shut him down a shootout to clinch a 4-3 win at Capital One Arena. 

Though that was despite Ovechkin collecting his 28th career tally on Fleury in the second period. 

The first goal he slipped passed Fleury happened almost two decades ago on Jan. 25, 2006.

Fleury, who intends to retire after this season, notes that not much has changed in Ovechkin's game between now and then. 

"On the power play, Ovi is still always in the same spot," he noted. "He has such a heavy shot. It's so hard to read his slappers, and there's never a bad pass for him with his one-timers. He brings the puck in, no matter where the pass comes from. I'd say that his shot is still really hard to predict. He also has a big wrister, it's powerful, but the puck rises quickly as well."