Wild and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury persevere for 3-1 victory over San Jose

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Marc-Andre Fleury had resumed eating only a day earlier, the goaltender trying to sleep as much as he could to combat the flu bug that almost prevented him from backing up the Wild’s last game.

“Rough couple days,” Fleury admitted.

But when he returned to the crease Saturday, Fleury showed no ill effects.

Was it the rest? The fluids he chugged? Or was he motivated by the fan who heckled him during the second period?

Ding, ding, ding.

“One guy kept yelling at me I was too old, I had to retire,” Fleury relayed. “So I wanted to show him I could win and do well.”

Egged on by the chirps, the 40-year-old Fleury prevailed in the age-old battle of youth vs. experience, the future Hall of Famer backstopping the Wild to a 3-1 victory over the much younger Sharks at SAP Center to set up the Wild for at least a split on their road trip that concludes Sunday at Vegas.

“I’m happy it worked out,” said Fleury, who said he thought the jeers were funny.

There was nothing laughable about his performance.

Fleury made 36 saves, a season high, in his 570th career victory and third in a row during his farewell season, to help the Wild rebound from a 6-1 turndown by the Avalanche on Thursday with their NHL-leading 16th road win.

Marco Rossi and Matt Boldy scored before an empty-netter from Mats Zuccarello with 1 minute, 17 seconds to go for Zuccarello’s third point of the night, but this outcome wasn’t possible without Fleury.

He fended off more shots in the first period (16) than he did playing more than half the game in relief of Filip Gustavsson last Tuesday during the 6-4 rally against the Blues when Fleury went a perfect 15-for-15.

But the Wild exited the first period ahead 1-0 after Rossi skated into a head-man pass from Zuccarello and lifted a top-shelf backhander by Sharks goalie Yaroslav Askarov at 5:51.

“They came out pretty hard,” Fleury said. “You could see they were buzzing in their zone, too, a bit. It was nice we got the lead, Marco a good goal, and then you have a little playing room, right?

“So, it was nice. But there’s nights like that. There’s different types of games, so just have to try my best to give the team a chance.”

Mission accomplished.

After Fleury picked up his 19th save, the Wild finally registered their ninth shot, when Zuccarello handed off to Boldy in the neutral zone before Boldy skated into San Jose territory and handcuffed Askarov with a wrister 4:34 into the second for his second point. Boldy and Rossi are tied for second on the Wild in goals with 16, and Boldy’s eight game-winners are second in the NHL. Askarov finished with 18 saves.

San Jose dominated the puck the rest of the period while staying out of the penalty box; the Wild didn’t receive a power play for the second time in three games, and the Sharks went 0-for-2.

“You gotta give them credit,” Zuccarello said. “They made it hard on us to get out of our zone. I think that was the biggest issue.”

Fleury rattled off 28 consecutive saves, including many off his right pad and one impressive slide to deny San Jose rookie Macklin Celebrini, before the Sharks connected: With 2:30 left in the second, Fleury stopped 18-year-old Celebrini, but William Eklund buried the rebound.

“They came in waves, and they were really good off the rush. That kid drives that team,” Marcus Foligno said, referring to Celebrini.

The goal ended Fleury’s shutout streak at 87:23; the last time he was scored on was early in the third period of the Wild’s 4-3 shootout win over the Capitals on Jan.2.

Celebrini remained a handful, racking up a game-high six shots, and although San Jose played the previous night at Utah, the Sharks were much more aggressive than the Wild.

“San Jose pushed pretty hard, and they carried the play at times,” coach John Hynes said. “I just thought a lot of our execution tonight wasn’t what it needed to be, and it caused some extended D-zone shifts and things like that.

“But we got good goaltending. I thought we defended hard [but] probably defended a little too much, more than we’d like.”

The Wild were still missing five regulars, including half their defense.

Kirill Kaprizov, who sat out his eighth straight game with a lower-body issue, continues to skate, while Jonas Brodin (lower body) and Brock Faber (upper body) are getting treatment for their injuries. Jakub Lauko, whose recovery from a lower-body ailment has stagnated, has also been skating, and captain Jared Spurgeon (lower body) is working out off the ice.

But the Wild were sharpest at the position that mattered most against San Jose, with Fleury actually the freshest player the Wild had in action since he didn’t face Colorado.

He improved to 20-5-4 in his career vs. the Sharks with a 1.85 goals-against average and .940 save percentage that’s his best against any team, success that explains why the fan who was taunting Fleury might want him to retire (which Fleury is planning to do after the season).

“He deserves a beer tonight,” Foligno said. “Get the carbs in him and take tomorrow off. He was phenomenal.”

As for the rest of the Wild, they could be in for a tough Sunday night if they play the same way against the Golden Knights.

“Flower played great. Zuccy, Marco and Bolds had a great game,” Foligno said. “We just gotta be better tomorrow. Obviously, we’re going into a juggernaut team tomorrow. That’s going to be a different game if we do that. Learn from it and just take this win and just come out with a better effort tomorrow.”