Do you think the Penguins are burning out Marc-Andre Fleury? Do you think with the massive lead the Penguins hold in the Metro division, that they need to rely on the Flower so heavily? For the Penguins top net minder, Fleury has appeared in 42 games this season, which ranks him third in the league and he is on pace to play in 68 games.
Unfortunately for the Penguins, this has been a downfall for Fleury in the recent past. There is simply no need for Dan Bylsma to be playing No. 29 on a consistent basis. This team isn’t in any danger of missing the playoffs, as they currently hold a seven-point lead at the top spot in the Eastern Conference. So pushing the envelope on a player who would benefit from being physically and mentally rested heading into the postseason seems to be a bit unnecessary.
Over the last four years, Fleury has been known as a playoff failure, with this year being a critical one for him moving forward with this organization. While criticizing Fleury for his performance in last year’s playoffs is a valid, solely blaming him for the first round playoff embarrassment against the Philadelphia Flyers is not. Heading into the 2011-12 postseason, Fleury was standing on his head in net as he won nine games in a row and 11 of 12 towards the end of the year. The problem was that Fleury was both physically and mentally drained by the end of the regular season. On top of that, the team defense was non existent that left Fleury hung out to dry on more than a few occasions and an early exit from the playoffs.
Moving forward, Bylsma must give his starting goalie more time off as this team cruises to the finish line. Throughout the season, Jeff Zatkoff continues to prove his worth in net. Bylsma had this to say about the backup net minder: “He hasn’t seen the net as much as Tomas Vokoun probably would’ve, but Jeff’s gone in there and played games and won games for us,” Bylsma told reporters. “He’s been the best player on the ice for us as well. He’s run with the ball. He’s certainly taken the net and done an unbelievable job for us.”
Truth of the matter is that the Penguins coach clearly doesn’t have much faith in Zatkoff. However, the Penguins can afford to take that chance, so even if Zatkoff were to lose a handful of games, this team would still have a comfortable lead in the division. For Fleury, his regular season stats, although have been the best of his career, simply don’t matter. It is Stanley Cup Finals or bust.
If the Pens fall short this year, it won’t matter how they’re ousted as the blame will fall squarely on Bylsma and Fleury’s shoulders one way or another.
