Faceoff Factor

A tale of two goaltenders

Ben Schmidt | Pittsburgh Penguins

Mar 28, 11:53 AM | Hype this story!

Coming into the season, one of the big questions surrounding the Penguins was whether Marc-Andre Fleury was going to be a goaltender they could rely upon to take them far. The criticisms included his rebound control, his puckhandling skills, and his ability to respond in big games.

The season began, and Fleury did nothing to quiet his critics. There were rumors that the Penguins were looking for a veteran goaltender to help mentor him, and possibly even take over the #1 starting position with the Penguins. His own coach called his mental state “fragile.”

Then, just when Fleury looked to be coming back into top form, he got injured, and Ty Conklin stepped in and played the best hockey of his career. When Fleury came back from his injury, blog and news writers alike were debating the goaltending controversy that Pittsburgh was facing: who should take over the reigns? Fleury or Conklin?

Well, we know the answer now. Fleury has been playing lights out since coming back from his injury, playing his way into the definite #1 position.

Still, what I find more interesting is to take a look back over the whole season, and analyze how it has gone for Fleury. There are some interesting details, even just looking at his stats.

Just looking over his game-by-game stats for the season, it is easy to pinpoint the turnaround point for Fleury in the season. It is notable, because it is also widely regarded as the turnaround game for the team: November 22nd, against the Ottawa Senators. Fleury was pulled from that game after giving up 2 goals on 4 shots. Dany Sabourin went on in relief to win the game in the shootout for the Penguins. From that point on, Fleury seemed to change into a different goaltender – a far better one, thankfully.

From October 5th, 2007, through November 22nd, 2007:
Games Played In: 16
Record: 5-8-1
Goals Against: 48
Shots Against: 442
Save Percentage: .891
Note: Opposing teams scored 3 or more goals against Fleury in 10 of these 16 games. In one of the remaining 6, Fleury was pulled after giving up two goals on four shots.

From November 24th 2007, through March 27th, 2008:
Games Played In: 15
Record: 12-1-0
Goals Against: 18
Shots Against: 363
Save Percentage: .950
Note: Fleury has only let in 3 goals in one of these games. In that game (March 6th, 2008 against the Florida Panthers), he was pulled after allowing three goals to the Panthers. That is the only game in this block in which he was relieved of his netminding duties.

Reporters have been noting how well he has played since returning from his injury, but what is truly notable is that he actually seemed to just flip a switch in late November, before he was injured, and has been playing at that level ever since. It helps that the shots against him have been decreased, but the drop off in goals is far more dramatic than the drop off in shots against, despite playing a similar number of games.

Whatever it is that Fleury did to flip that switch, he needs to learn how to keep it turned on, because the Penguins could really use this current Fleury in the playoffs.