Today is the day. The NHL postseason kicks off into high gear.
Pittsburgh will open at home against the New York Rangers and we are starting to get more clarity on one of the more important variables of this series.
Will Marc-Andre Fleury be in net?
Signs are pointing to yes.
Officially this is their stance
Coach Sullivan: "We will make a game-time decision on tonight's goaltender."
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 13, 2016
Unofficially Marc-Andre Fleury was practicing in the same goal he’s always in when he starts. He was also the first goalie off the ice. Tristan Jarry who was called up for backup reasons in case Marc-Andre Fleury couldn't go did not even practice today.
Fleury is going to be in net.
Does that guarantee success? Of course not. He hasn't played in a while and head ailments are their own special breed of injury.
There is also his personal playoff past which is a mixed bag. At times he has been marvelous (2007-08), other times he was truly pathetic (2010-13) and other years were a mixed bag of average.
In 2015-16 Marc-Andre Fleury was playing some really good hockey. There was nothing to suggest that he wouldn’t continue to play well in the playoffs. He did have a very similar 5v5 adjusted save percentage to Lundqvist this year (.933 vs .934). The second concussion muddies those waters.
Even if Fleury was 100% the team needed to have "Vokoun insurance". They had it with Matt Murray, but made a very poor risk reward decision. The coaching staff believed that by playing Murray against the Flyers he would gain very important "experience". This line of thinking is of course a stretch. The experience fairy wasn't going to come and sprinkle experience dust on Murray magically making him a more playoff ready goaltender.
So with Matt Murray still not practicing here is the insurance policy in case Fleury isn't healthy and/or plays poorly.
5v5 Adjusted Save Percentage 2012-15
Jeff Zatkoff .909 Matt Murray .935
Zatkoff has played 35 NHL games while Murray has played 13.
In 41 games in the AHL Matt Murray has a .940 save percentage. In 200 games Zatkoff has a .915 save percentage.
Pittsburgh has a great team heading into the playoffs. It would be a shame if goaltending/injuries did them in once again. League average is probably all the team needs to get by.
Thanks for reading!