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Murray or Fleury? How A Goalie can Affect EVERYTHING

May 23, 2016, 12:31 PM ET [52 Comments]
Eklund
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So here we are...Allen comes in for Elliott and the Blues get their game back. Fleury comes in for Murray and the Penguins get their game back too....the one that can't hold leads and looks shaky in the playoffs...

We can all agree that Jake Allen wasn't the reason the Blues won game 4, right? He wasn't the reason the Blues suddenly had better outlet passes and a stronger forecheck.....right?

I guess....But to be honest I don't know. Hear me out...

Hockey and success in the playoffs is a very fickle thing. A team can gain and lose momentum on a freak play and that momentum can carry them through in ways you don't expect. There is so much randomness in this game that it can get inside of a player's head. It can go from confidence to self-doubt overnight.

Getting on a roll shouldn't be able to happen quickly but just look back at Friday afternoon. The Pens were up 2-1 and almost everyone assumed they were on their way and just had too much for the Lightning. The Blues were down 2-1 and hadn't scored a goal in two plus games.. The Sharks looked unbeatable...

Now it is Monday morning and the Pens have a goalie controversy and are on the verge of elimination while the Blues have home ice back in a best of three. Neither the Blues or Bolts have dominated the play throughout the series...in fact both have, more times than not, been dominated and yet the two teams who have played much better for the most part, the Sharks and the Pens, are the two teams who appear to be in trouble...

And two days from now, that could change again.....that's how small the margin from winning to losing can be this time of year. ANY advantage, even voodoo like advantages matter...

Changing a goalie can change the vibe completely with a team, and that's what we saw this weekend. The new look and feel of Jake Allen made a difference and the entire team hit the reset button in a way. The 7 periods of not being able to score went away. Suddenly the team found their forecheck, and worked harder, and found their confidence as a result.

Marc Andre Fleury's start changed the feel for the Penguins as well. Except this time the Penguins relaxed a bit. They fell into a familiar comfort zone of sorts.. They didn't feel the same need to protect Fleury to the level they have done with Murray....and then when Fleury lets in a bad goal in the playoffs...well that is also a familiar feeling for the Pens.

Fleury is such a popular player and the Pens players all feel for him. They want him to succeed to the point where it can become a distraction...I have felt that for years...That roller coaster is exactly opposite of the even, level-headed way the Penguins were playing and finding success in these last few months.

This isn't an indictment on MAF in the least. It's just that baggage is baggage...and a return to Murray is probably the best bet to hit the reset button...

However, I don't get the impression that Fleury will lose his net again...we will see...

What do you think?



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