BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Marc-Andre Fleury gulped a giant chug of water, exhaled loudly, then slumped back in his stall late Saturday night inside First Niagara Center's visiting locker room. He'd just finished his session with the assembled media, but he hadn't yet peeled off a single pad. And from the look of it, he hadn't yet come close to processing any of what had happened.
"I'm going to enjoy this. I am," he told me as I approached, clearly anticipating the next question he was about to field. "I promise I will."
With that, the Flower grinned and playfully flicked a finger atop each of his shoulders.
All the angst, all the pressure had rolled off.
"Other than my first two seasons, we've always been in the playoffs pretty easily. So this was a bit different," he continued. "We stuck together. Went through some tough times, that's for sure."
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