http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Playing "very good" has not made Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury good enough in the eyes of many people outside his organization.Nearing the six-year anniversary of his first overall selection at the 2003 NHL entry draft, Fleury is no longer trying to win over everybody.
"When you are young you don't realize it, but you start learning that goalie is a fun position — you're the last guy to stop the puck from going in and the first guy that gets blamed when it does, and that's just how it goes," Fleury said Tuesday — the final day of his third consecutive dominant March.
"As long as I have the respect of my coaches and teammates, and we're winning, I don't really care what (everybody) thinks."
Fleury, 24, is still considered by some an inconsistent underachiever - even though he is two years removed from 40 wins in his first full season as a No. 1 goalie, and last season he backstopped the Penguins to the Stanley Cup final.
He went 11-1-1 with a 1.57 goals-against average last month, making him 28-3-5 with a 2.03 GAA in March over the past three seasons, but his 31-save shutout performance against Calgary on March 25 was described by Flames coach Mike Keenan as just "very good."
"Oh, he's better than that," Penguins winger Pascal Dupuis said. "I think he's become great."
Fleury's teammates believe he receives far too little credit for the Penguins' third straight second-half surge. They also say his contribution to the franchise's transformation from bottom-dweller three years ago to Stanley Cup contender the past two seasons is vastly under-appreciated — if not generally ignored.
"He's been labeled as a talent, but for some reason not many people mention that over the last two years he's become one of the best goalies in the game," Penguins backup goaltender Mathieu Garon said. "I wasn't here last year, but I know that guys around the league think that was his coming of age as an elite goalie."
Often praised for superior athleticism and, as Garon noted, "that quick movement with his (leg) pads," Fleury has over the past three seasons honed a skill that center Jordan Staal feels often is slighted because it is not easily measurable by statistics.
"He's there for the big (saves), he's there when this team needs him," Staal said, referring to Fleury's final-minutes stop Saturday on a point-blank shot by New York Rangers winger Nik Antropov to preserve a one-goal lead for the Penguins' eventual win.
"Some goalies just learn how to win, and 'Flower' is one of those goalies."
Fleury, 32-17-6 overall with a 2.68 goals-against average and .912 save percentage, will be there for his teammates tonight as they wrap a franchise-record eight-game homestand against the New Jersey Devils. Before games played last night, the Devils (47-25-4, 98 points) were slated to face the Penguins (41-27-8, 90 points) in an opening-round playoff series.
Perhaps a victorious postseason duel with all-time NHL wins leader Martin Brodeur, who has guided the Devils to three Cup titles, might provide Fleury the public showcase to finally take his place among hockey's elite goalies.
More likely, Penguins left wing Chris Kunitz said, Fleury must win the Cup to gain favorable recognition.
"It's the one position in hockey that everybody points to in the playoffs because you don't win unless your goalie is hot," said Kunitz, who won the Cup with Anaheim in 2007 partly on the strength of Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere's stellar postseason performance (13-4, 1.97 GAA, .922 save percentage).
"For whatever reason, no team in the playoffs is really respected unless opponents know the goalie is a game-changer. A goalie solidifies a championship team. (Giguere) did that for our team in Anaheim, he gave us an unshakeable confidence."
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said "absolutely" Fleury provides the same degree of confidence for his team because he no longer has "stints that are weak."
"There are times when tough goals go in, but he regroups quickly and forgets about that goal pretty easily," Crosby said. "He's become that much tougher to beat when he gives up a goal he would like to have back."
Defenseman Brooks Orpik said there have been fewer of those goals allowed this season by Fleury, whose newfound approach suggests a championship-caliber maturity entering his third postseason.
"I used to be in my head too much," Fleury said. "If a team scored, I couldn't take it. Now I go one shot at a time. If it goes in, I'm mad, but I've learned to (sweep) the puck out of the net and just go again.
"There's nothing I can do about the past. All I can control is what happens next, and I can make that pretty good."
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