The Pittsburgh Penguins celebrated a major component of the franchise’s glorious past Tuesday as former goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury returned to PPG Paints Arena as an employee of the Minnesota Wild.

As for their present and future, that’s a far less flowery topic.

The Penguins were tamed by the Wild, 5-3, and saw their losing streak bloom to six games (0-5-1).

Rookie goaltender Joel Blomqvist, one of the scant sources of optimism for the Penguins this season, was not at his crispest behind a porous defense, stopping 34 of 38 shots as his record fell to 2-4-0.

While the result was far from ideal for the hosts, it was a fine finale for Fleury in what is presumably his last appearance as an active player in Pittsburgh. The reception was certainly warm for one of the city’s most beloved athletes ever.

He stopped 26 of 29 shots — including an acrobatic denial of Penguins forward Lars Eller at 18:09 of the third period — as his record sprouted to 2-0-1.

“For guys that (have) been here for a long time, they know why,” Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said in Cranberry on Monday. “For guys that are new to the Penguins, it might sound weird, but it’s just normal for us, I guess.

“He made a big difference in this organization, and people appreciate that. They’ll remember that forever.”

It hasn’t quite been forever since the Penguins last won a game but their last triumph was a 6-5 overtime home victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 16. Their last losing streak this long was a six-game stretch (0-4-2) between Dec. 22, 2022 and Jan. 5, 2023.

A common theme during this sequence of futility has been lousy defense.

“We’re giving up too much,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “We can’t win consistently when you give up the quality of chances or the amount of goals that we’re giving up. We’ve got to find a way to limit our mistakes. (And) if we’re going to make them, they can’t be big ones.”

Penguins forward Valtteri Puustinen, a healthy scratch for eight of the first 10 games of 2024-25, opened the scoring with a power-play goal on his first shot of the season 11:36 into regulation.

Accepting a pass above the left circle of the offensive zone, Puustinen maneuvered into the circle, waited for Wild defenseman Jake Middleton to drift out of position and snapped off a wrister. The puck glanced off the heel of Middleton’s stick and beat Fleury’s five hole. Eller provided a screen on the sequence. Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk and Crosby had assists.

Power play goal for Pittsburgh!

Scored by Valtteri Puustinen with 08:24 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Matt Grzelcyk and Sidney Crosby.

Pittsburgh: 1Minnesota: 0#MINvsPIT #LetsGoPens #mnwild pic.twitter.com/VKG99nwhO5

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 29, 2024

The hosts took a 2-0 lead via forward Rickard Rakell’s team-leading fifth goal at 15:31 of the first period.

Settling a puck at the right point of the offensive zone, Letang dished a pass to the far circle for Rakell. Shielding the puck from Wild forward Marco Rossi, Rakell spun to his right and fired a wrister by Fleury’s glove on the far side. Letang and Crosby claimed assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Rickard Rakell with 04:29 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby.

Pittsburgh: 2Minnesota: 0#MINvsPIT #LetsGoPens #mnwild pic.twitter.com/qgvHA4DUPr

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 29, 2024

The Wild responded with a two-goal outburst within a span of 55 seconds to tie the game late in the opening frame.

Forward Jakub Lauko found his second goal at the 17:03 mark.

After Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves’ attempt to clear the puck out of the defensive zone off the left wing glass struck linesman Julian Fornier’s back, Wild rookie forward Marat Khusnutdinov jabbed the loose puck below the near circle where Lauko settled it and fired a wrister from a bad angle. Blomqvist failed to fully seal off the near post and allowed the puck to sneak in between his blocker and left leg. Khusnutdinov collected the only assist.

Minnesota goal!

Scored by Jakub Lauko with 02:57 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Marat Khusnutdinov.

Pittsburgh: 2Minnesota: 1#MINvsPIT #LetsGoPens #mnwild pic.twitter.com/FGvmdaAPQu

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 29, 2024

In something of an unintentional tribute to the occasionally foul-mouthed Fleury, Blomqvist utilized a four-letter word to explain what happened.

“Yeah, just couldn’t see along the post like I usually do,” Blomqvist said. “Unlucky for me. Just, (stuff) happens sometimes.”

That … stuff … happened soon again when former Penguins forward Frederick Gaudreau tied the game with his first goal at the 17:58 mark.

Grezelcyk tried to poke check a loose puck away from below the Penguins’ right circle but wound up directing it into the left hand of Gaudreau, who settled it and released a wrister by Blomqvist’s blocker on the far side. There were no assists.

Minnesota goal!

Scored by Frederick Gaudreau with 02:02 remaining in the 1st period.

Pittsburgh: 2Minnesota: 2#MINvsPIT #LetsGoPens #mnwild pic.twitter.com/HMtRZ9REDr

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 29, 2024

This marked the second consecutive game in which the Penguins allowed a quick succession of goals. During a 4-3 road loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, the Penguins yielded three goals in 65 seconds during the second period.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan dismissed the idea of there being a common theme in opponents collecting goals in hiccup-quick bursts. But he acknowledged the obvious need for stiffer defense.

“The (goal by Gaudreau), we’ve got to recognize that we’re on defense because we’re not getting to the puck first and we exposed the slot,” Sullivan said. “We should have had numbers there. We should have been on the right side of the puck, in the attack on the stalled puck in the corner. Our second man is on the wrong side and we exposed the good ice. Those are the habits and the details that we’re talking about. It starts with recognizing that we’re on defense because there’s a question of control.”

Gaudreau allowed the visitors to take control with their first lead 98 seconds into the second period.

Following a turnover by Eller at the offensive blue line, Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov claimed the errant puck near the home bench and sprung Gaudreau on a breakaway with a pass. Approaching the cage, Gaudreau scorched Blomqvist’s glove with a wrister. Assists went to Kaprizov and defenseman Brock Faber.

Minnesota goal!

Scored by Frederick Gaudreau with 18:22 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Kirill Kaprizov and Brock Faber.

Pittsburgh: 2Minnesota: 3#MINvsPIT #LetsGoPens #mnwild pic.twitter.com/nHjhul7pou

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 30, 2024

Wild forward Mats Zuccarello’s fifth goal came at 19:23 of the second frame.

Behind the Penguins’ cage, Rossi backhand chopped a puck away from Letang, causing it to bounce to the right circle. Kaprizov claimed it, spun to his left and slipped a clever pass to the far side of the crease where Zuccarello tapped in an easy forehand shot. Kaprizov and Rossi registered assists.

Minnesota goal!

Scored by Mats Zuccarello with 00:37 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Kirill Kaprizov and Marco Rossi.

Pittsburgh: 2Minnesota: 4#MINvsPIT #LetsGoPens #mnwild pic.twitter.com/LqxCigZmEj

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 30, 2024

Rakell scored again at 3:34 of the third period.

Above Minnesota’s right circle, Crosby swiped a puck from Wild forward Yakov Trenin and offloaded it to the left point for Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson. Surveying his options, Pettersson sent a forehand shot/pass to the top of the crease. Rakell darted by Wild forward Marcus Foligno and re-directed the puck with the forehand of his stick blade under Fleury’s right leg.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Rickard Rakell with 16:24 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Marcus Pettersson and Sidney Crosby.

Pittsburgh: 3Minnesota: 4#MINvsPIT #LetsGoPens #mnwild pic.twitter.com/Kc0nIjdCR0

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 30, 2024

The Penguins offered a late surge in hopes of tying the game, but Kaprizov capped the scoring with his fifth goal on an empty net. Gaudreau and Middleton had assists.

Empty net goal for Minnesota!

Scored by Kirill Kaprizov with 00:19 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Frederick Gaudreau and Jake Middleton.

Pittsburgh: 3Minnesota: 5#MINvsPIT #LetsGoPens #mnwild pic.twitter.com/p3UeAL8KPJ

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 30, 2024

Following the game, Fleury took to the ice, exchanged hugs with Crosby as well as Letang and was celebrated one last time — as an active player — by those chanting his name.

“Hard to believe it’s the last time,” Fleury said. “So appreciative from the bottom of my heart with everybody over the years, the support. … It feels so weird. Not comfortable — family was here, friends were here. We all have great memories from here, so it means a lot.”

Fleury provided one of the limited reasons to cheer about anything related to the defensively challenged Penguins as of late.

“We’re going to defend our way out of this,” Sullivan implored. “We’re not going to score our way out of this. That’s what we’re trying to work at. It starts with a mindset. It starts with an attitude and your intentions need to be in the right place.”

Notes:

• Penguins rookie defenseman Jack St. Ivany recorded his first career fighting major at 10:39 of the second period when he squared off with Wild defenseman Brock Faber after Faber got tangled up with Crosby:

• Crosby collected three assists. He had one point - an assist - in his previous five games.

• In 25 career games against the Wild, Crosby has 38 points (12 goals, 26 assists).

• Penguins forward Bryan Rust (injury) and defenseman Ryan Shea (healthy) were scratched. After the game started, the Penguins designated Rust to injured reserve.

• The Wild remain one of two active NHL franchises the Penguins have never shut out. The new Utah Hockey Club — which the Penguins have yet to play — is the other.

(The history of the now-defunct Arizona Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets franchise did not carry over to the Utah Hockey Club, which is composed of former players and staff from the Arizona Coyotes.)

• In six career games against the Penguins, Kaprizov has nine points (four goals, five assists).

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