There have been playoff losses in the past few years which you could pin on Marc Andre Fleury. There have been games where the Penguins played hard hockey and he couldn't make the big save at the key time.
But last night....was not not of those games.
Last night the Penguins showed why you should never try to protect a lead from the 11 minute mark of the first period on. From the time Neal made it 3-0 at 11:10 of period 1, until Dubinsky tied the game with under 30 seconds to go, Marc Andre Fleury was the best Penguin on the ice. He was the only player out there playing to win. The rest of Bylsma'a group played 49 inexplicable minutes of "playing not to lose" hockey.
Columbus dominated every zone and won every battle. The Penguins decided to stop trying to score goals on a noticeably shaken Bobrovsky. And that to me was the baffling part of last night's game. From James Neal's goal on the Blue Jackets put 30+ shots at Fleury, several quality shots. The Penguins managed only 12 shots in the remaining 49 minutes and only 1 was threatening. A great glove said Bob made late on Crosby through a screen. THAT save shouldn't go unnoticed.
The Penguins gave the Blue Jackets clear passage out of their own end and escorted them over the center ice line without much less a shove.
The Penguins defense was horrible with their clears and their offense was soft as soft gets on their back check. How many times could Letang turn the puck over with such ease. How can a player so skilled not get the youth hockey concepts of "hard out?"
In my opinion where Fleury gets in trouble is when he tries to do too much. Often that means over playing a cross or getting caught off angle because of an aggressive move. When he went behind the net with 30 seconds to go last night you knew jot was trouble. When Pierre Maguire said, "Why would Marc Andre Fleury go behind the net at that point?" I felt like screaming "Because he doesn't trust his defense to make a play and he knows who will get it if he doesn't!"
Was it the right play? Of course not, but can you blame him??
Sure enough he missed the wrap around because he made the mistake of looking where he was going to clear the puck to before he had the puck. Everyone has made that mistake. A goalie shouldn't have that in his head at that point of the game...but he did. And there was a reason he did.
When Columbus tied the game is felt inevitable. What would have been more shocking would have been the Penguins actually managing to pull off the 49 minute defensive shell game.
When it got to overtime Fleury was rattled to say the least and yes, he needs to stop that shot. But that shot never should have happened. The Penguins players, not Fleury, were to blame for last night's overtime even existing.
It is so easy to blame MAF for the horrible last two goals, but neither happen if the Penguins don't play a horrible 49 minutes that saw Fleury play some of his best playoff hockey in years.
thoughts?
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