EC Playoffs Round 1: Pittsburgh Penguins vs Columbus Blue Jackets(Penguins win 4-2).

[Coach]

If you only watched the highlights Fleury is easy to blame. But the whole last 2 periods and OT were played in the Pens end. The Penguins sucked and CBJ earned the win.

[Voodooman]

Originally Posted by 19Yzerman19

Although I just saw that Fleury's even strength save percentage in this series is .932. That's really very good. Giving up that many goals and having your ESSV% be that high indicates to me that while I'm with the mob that says "Fleury is mediocre at hockey", the Pens' failings in this series shouldn't be laid on his shoulders primarily.

That is true in some respects, as there aren't 3 guys on that Penguins team who know how to play actual defence. Having said that, your save percentage could be .980 and those last 2 goals were still horrible. OK, the tying goal was a bad bounce, but WTF was he doing after? It wasn't a bing bang play, the puck hopped around a bit before getting out to the slot, and Fleury was still nowhere to be seen. And that winning goal was god awful. That's a save that any NHL goaltender should have, in any circumstance.

Could you imagine the Penguins up against San Jose right now? They wouldn't score 3 goals in the series and would likely give up about 23 in a 4 game sweep. Quality of play West vs East is night and day.

The other big issue for the Pens is Blysma. In my opinion, the most overrated coach in the league. I wouldn't want him coaching my team for free. But he should continue to be the US National coach for many years to come...

[bubbsy]

fleury is terrible. I don't care what his save percentage is, when you let in softies like that in the frigin playoffs, you are no good in the NHL.

Also, Crosby/Malkin should get choker status if they don't get anything done again this postseason. Both have been pretty "meh" in the olympics, and pretty "meh" come playoffs. Let's be fair and call this out already. Folks ripped on marleau/thornton for being regular season stars only, but they've outperformed the penguins "generation talents in their prime" for several years in the playoffs now.

I'd be shocked if either fleury/coaching staff are still in pittsburgh next year unless they get to the finals.

if you had to take any 1/2 tandems in the league to go into a playoff series, i don't think crosby/malkin are even close to being at the top of the list...
- toews/kane
- marleau/thornton (or replace either with pavelski)
- seguin/benn
- getzlaf/perry
- kreci/bergeron
- datsyuk/zetterberg

[19Yzerman19]

Well at the end of the day, goals is goals. If there's an alternate reality where he stops those two easy shots but lets in two tougher ones earlier in the game, the Penguins still lose.

I guess my point is, a bad goal is a bad goal, but if he wasn't playing as well as he is those goals wouldn't even have to happen or matter at all because the game's not getting to OT in the first place. Penguins really need to figure their sh** out. There's no intensity or sense of urgency, just entitlement and an assumption that they'll come out the other side of this series. If they actually respected their opponent this series would be over by now.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by nik-

lol, Pen fan meltdown from another forum.



I couldn't help but laugh. I had to share it, it's all about just running out of ideas by the time he gets to Mario.

He has some legit points. Sid and Geno haven't risen to the occasion in the playoffs for a few years now and Blysma doesn't seem to have answers for the changes from regular season to post season play. As for Shero he does deserve blame for the goaltending situation. How many seasons can you fail by the same common denominator of poor playoff goaltending before you address it? Crosby and Malkin's prime years are being wasted here with a goaltender that is a post season mental midget.

As for Mario I just don't see how anyone can blame him as since he's taken over the team has become an annual contender. He's letting Shero do his job as he should.

[dustygoon]

Fleury's soul destroying weak goals were a story last year. Shero/Lemieux are clinging to a guy that isn't good enough.

[strombad]

Fleury is a fine goaltender. He's likely one of the top 15 in the league, but he's not a superstar.

That's the problem with the Penguins. They've a ton of talent but they expect their stars to be significantly better than everyone else without trying. When one of their key pieces plays above average instead of exceptional? Things fall apart.

It's safe the say that the Penguins are not a well built team. They're a lucky team because they drafted exceptional talent, but they're not well built. Everybody piles on Fleury but the series being tied 2-2 isn't even close to his fault.

Crawford, Miller, Andersen, Howard, Price, Quick... I've seen each one of them let in some truly embarrassing goals this post-season, some more-so than Fleury. Almost every goalie lets in bad goals during the playoffs, but it's up to the team to either respond accordingly or avoid it being a factor in the first place.

[ForeverFlameFan]

The problem with the Pens losing Game 4 is that Columbus has all of the momentum and confidence coming back to Pittsburgh.

Pens' fans should be worried.

[Flash Walken]

Unfortunately for FLeury, he was playing really well up 'til then.

You can build a thousand bridges in your life, but suck one #### and you'll always be known as a ##########.

[Flash Walken]

double post

[puckluck2]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Unfortunately for FLeury, he was playing really well up 'til then.

You can build a thousand bridges in your life, but suck one #### and you'll always be known as a ##########.

I'd like to buy a vowel.

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Unfortunately for FLeury, he was playing really well up 'til then.

You can build a thousand bridges in your life, but suck one #### and you'll always be known as a ##########.

i'm trying to tranlsate the ####'s, but with difficulty

[dino7c]

Fleury obviously blew it in the end but anyone only blaming him didn't watch the game...go look at the shots on goal. CBJ dominated the game

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Unfortunately for FLeury, he was playing really well up 'til then.

You can build a thousand bridges in your life, but suck one #### and you'll always be known as a ##########.

Haha.
I have been a big fan of this saying, except it ended as ########### bridge builder.
Good stuff though - haven't heard it for a while

[bubbsy]

it doesn't matter. The game tying and game winning goals can't happen in the playoffs. The timing during the game of the goals, the quality of the goals were atrocious. This isn't a rookie goalie, this is a 5 million buck a year pillar of the franchise that has created a pattern of dropping the ball during the big game.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

He has some legit points. Sid and Geno haven't risen to the occasion in the playoffs for a few years now and Blysma doesn't seem to have answers for the changes from regular season to post season play. As for Shero he does deserve blame for the goaltending situation. How many seasons can you fail by the same common denominator of poor playoff goaltending before you address it? Crosby and Malkin's prime years are being wasted here with a goaltender that is a post season mental midget.

As for Mario I just don't see how anyone can blame him as since he's taken over the team has become an annual contender. He's letting Shero do his job as he should.

I'm not saying he's wrong, I'm just saying it's funny.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by puckluck2

I'd like to buy a vowel.

Besides RSTLNE, I would like to take C, K, and O. I"m sure you can figure out the one missing letter.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

Besides RSTLNE, I would like to take C, K, and O. I"m sure you can figure out the one missing letter.

The Batman symbol?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

The problem with the Pens losing Game 4 is that Columbus has all of the momentum and confidence coming back to Pittsburgh.

Pens' fans should be worried.

I'm still confident that the Penguins will win the series. The Jackets are scrappy but if Geno and Crosby show up for the next couple of games they will win in 6. Will they show up? Not sure but Blysma is probably trying his hardest right now to get these guys going.

[t0rrent98]

Poor Fleury. Luongo 2.0? Does great during regular season but chokes during playoffs...