Eklund: Not His Fault.

Not MAF's fault?

He did make two critical errors, not that his cohorts helped at all. They needed to score some more.

Not MAF's fault?

He did make two critical errors, not that his cohorts helped at all. They needed to score some more.
- nayefj

nope.

Not MAF's fault?

He did make two critical errors, not that his cohorts helped at all. They needed to score some more.
- nayefj

NEVER should have come to that.

Eklund: Not His Fault.
- Eklund

Yes it was.

so we'll call it a team loss? Fluery has always been prone to choking in the playoffs, .. he deserves a big slice of blame pie, but theres plenty of pie for everyone.

so we'll call it a team loss? Fluery has always been prone to choking in the playoffs, .. he deserves a big slice of blame pie, but theres plenty of pie for everyone.
- 77emac77

for other games? absolutely. for last night?

Yes it was.
- bcallaway

no

Eklund: Not His Fault.
- Eklund

Pretty much every expert were asking themselves why Fleury left his net with 30 seconds left , you just don't do that at that point in the game leading by one goal .

I'll admit we got lucky.....

no
- Eklund

Yes.

The misconception here is that by making Fleury the primary scape goat (which he should be) that eliminates responsibility from other players, that isn't true. Things aren't black and white.

Fleury's mistakes outweighed Fleury's good play last night.

Eklund: Not His Fault.
- Eklund

You're Wrong..... again

Even if the Pens' shouldn't have gotten to that point, I don't think you can overlook Fleury's blunders late in the game and OT. It's abundantly clear now that Fleury does have some mental-related issues with consistency, confidence, and not being prone to poor decision-making in crucial moments.

That shot, EVEN THOUGH it was partially screened and dipped slightly, WAS EASILY STOPABLE for most good goalies in the NHL. The shot was from Foligno, FAR from a dangerous sniper with a good shot, came from very far out, and was not deflected at all. Fleury had ample time to correct his positioning to account for the dipping of the puck. But instead, it went right through him. I feel for the guy, but he's not all there, and it's painfully obvious now.

You're Wrong..... again
- davecervo

alright. you make a convincing case.

yes it was... that overtime goal was budaj-esque

The misconception here is that by making Fleury the primary scape goat (which he should be) that eliminates responsibility from other players, that isn't true. Things aren't black and white.

Fleury's mistakes outweighed Fleury's good play last night.
- Ryan_Wilson

This......


Your team got you the lead. Stay in your net and stop the puck.

Not to mention the GWG came from a shot six feet or less from inside the blue line.


Total MAF meltdown.

Again.

Even if the Pens' shouldn't have gotten to that point, I don't think you can overlook Fleury's blunders late in the game and OT. It's abundantly clear now that Fleury does have some mental-related issues with consistency, confidence, and not being prone to poor decision-making in crucial moments.

That shot, EVEN THOUGH it was partially screen and sipped slightly, WAS EASILY STOPABLE for most good goalies in the NHL. The shot was from Foligno, FAR from a dangerous sniper with a good shot, came from very far out, and was not deflected at all. Fleury had ample time to correct his positioning to account for the dipping of the puck. But instead, it went right through him. I feel for the guy, but he's not all there, and it's painfully obvious now.
- Flyers_V88

it is clear he is shot. but i still question how much of that is him and how much is a result of being the wrong goalie to deal with the kind of situation/team which plays in front of him. You need a grant fuhr mentality. he isn't that kind of goalie...but put him on other teams and he could possibly be one of the best.

This......


Your team got you the lead. Stay in your net and stop the puck.

Not to mention the GWG came from a shot six feet or less from inside the blue line.


Total MAF meltdown.

Again.
- bcallaway

Yeah, I mean play it safe at ALL COSTS! If you're not a great puck-handler, don't even risk it at that point in the game. If it was the first or second goal, it'd still be bad, but not as bad. The fact that it was the tying goal and lead to their demise in OT, it just can't happen.

Now this article I whole heartedly agree with and was caught ranting at work today on the same subject about 2 hours ago. It might be the 2nd most hated thing in sports for me, when a team gets a strong early lead and decides to try and coast for 75%+ of the game clinging to the lead. It just baffles me, that the style of play that earned any team a strong early lead would be changed into a soft protective one. Why the hell would you not continue to do what you just did and bury the opponent in an insurmountable deficit?
Best example of when this is an issue, the Blue Jackets Pens series right now. Jackets a bit less of just coasting with their leads then the Pens.

San Jose showed in their series what a huge lead does when you make it even larger. It wins the game. Game 1 of that series a prime example. Up 3-0, they tacked on more so the King's 3 goal 3rd period was barely of note.

100% Fluery's fault that they scored 2 atrocious goals on him.

Fleury was also the reason that game wasnt 7-3 in favor of CBJ.

He wasnt the worst player on the ice, and the mistakes he made unfortuantely outshine the great plays he had made up until that point.

Its like saying "Bob played great in game 3 up until he let in 3 shaky goals in a row".

They played great...until they didnt.

Finally somebody else said it, no team can show up play for 13 minutes and then expect to win. Just look at the stats the penguins were heavily out shot, out hit, lost the face off battle. You hear it all the time "if you score x amount of goals you have to win the game" well i would hold the rest of the team accountable and say when your goalie makes 42 saves you should probably win the game.

This......


Your team got you the lead. Stay in your net and stop the puck.

Not to mention the GWG came from a shot six feet or less from inside the blue line.


Total MAF meltdown.

Again.
- bcallaway

if the Penguins manage even 25 shots instead of 13 over the final two periods that overtime never happens.

Eklund: Not His Fault.
- Eklund

Yes it is. Like I said in Ryan's blog, I fail to grasp the concept that some fans have that standing on your head gives you a license to make a gaffe like that last night. We talk about teams playing 60 minutes. The same standard applies to goaltenders.

Not his fault at all in my opinion.

Fluery is prone to letting in the weak goal and choking in the playoffs against the lesser seeded teams, prime example is last year against the Islanders, but last night Fluery was the team. For a team that is loaded with huge offensive talent like Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Kunitz, and not to mention the offense from the blueline in Letang and the younger guys, they simply just gave up after the 3-0 goal. Everyone says the 2 goal lead is the hardest lead to defend in hockey and that is true when it comes to the reg season, but any lead in the playoffs is the hardest lead to defend and the team, in this case namely Pittsburgh, needs to play hard and up to their strengths for a full 60+ minutes, not just jump out to an early lead and sit back and poorly defend.

Good on you Fluery for being the only one to play a full 60+ minutes while the rest of team decided leave you out to dry.

Finally somebody else said it, no team can show up play for 13 minutes and then expect to win. Just look at the stats the penguins were heavily out shot, out hit, lost the face off battle. You hear it all the time "if you score x amount of goals you have to win the game" well i would hold the rest of the team accountable and say when your goalie makes 42 saves you should probably win the game.
- Genev21

exactly.