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Stephen R. Sylvanie, USA TODAY Sports Marc-Andre Fleury has been a top goaltender in the best hockey league in the world for a long time now. He's currently in his fifthteenth season as an NHL goalie and in most of those he was a no doubt starter. He has been truly impressive. Just like most other athletes across sports you don't often see someone stay towards the top for nearly fifteen years.
Yet, here we are. The thirty-four year old Vegas Golden Knights netminder leads the entire NHL in wins (35) and shutout (8). His season stats are solid, right on par with his career average if not a little better. He currently has a 2.46 goals against average accompanied by a .914 save percentage. The talk around the Golden Knights the past two seasons going into the playoffs has been the same. It's a very good team, deep at forward, plays hard both on offense and defense and you don't have to worry about Marc-Andre Fleury in goal. I can agree with almost all that. Except the Fleury part. In no way am I saying that Fleury isn't a good playoff goalie. Fleury has three Stanley Cup rings to his name being a huge part in two of them, the win in 2009 where he won all sixteen games and another in 2017 when he won nine of the sixteen. When Fleury is good, he is very good. He can take a team far into the playoffs and win series nearly all by himself. A series I think of when I think about how good he can be in the playoffs is last years match-up vs Los Angeles. Vegas played terrifically that series, but the reason they swept that series was because Fleury was nearly unbeatable. That's the good side. The problem with Fleury is consistency. He has never had three straight postseasons with a save percentage over 90%. On top of that, he has played on great teams with big expectations and cost his teams dearly. Notably the 2012 playoffs with the Penguins vs the Flyers. The Penguins were one of the best teams in the NHL that year. Finally having a healthy Crosby and Malkin along with the likes of James Neal, Jordan Staal, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik, Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis, Paul Martin, Matt Cooke etc. And you had one of the best goaltenders in Fleury. That series Fleury looked lost in net for whatever reason posting a GAA of 4.63 and a save percentage of .834%. The Penguins didn't play perfectly that series, no doubt, but the number of scoring chances against and high danger attempts against actually went down from the regular season. In the season they allowed 18.60 scoring chances a game and 8.23 high danger attempts against a game. That series they allowed 16.16 chances a game and 7.33 high danger attempts a game. The Penguins didn't play great that series but Fleury was a huge reason why that stacked team lost in the first round. Fleury has led his team to the playoffs twelve times in his career. Another great number. However, once against pointing to his inconsistencies he has just six playoff season with a save percentage over .900 and six with a save percentage under .900. That doesn't scream sure thing to me like others continuously say. Who would be an example of sure thing, at least among active NHL goaltenders? Henrik Lundqvist? Maybe he's past his prime, his best days are gone and he may be lucky to taste the playoffs again in his NHL career, (at least if he stays in New York like he wants to) but watching him play in the playoffs and looking at his stats he is a guy you don't have to worry about. Lundqvist led his Rangers team to the playoffs eleven times. In those eleven seasons he has just two seasons with a save percentage under .900 and nine with a .900 save percentage or higher. What about Carey Price? Most think the Canadiens goalie is the best in the world, a lot of current players think this as well. In his eight playoff appearances he has 5 seasons over .900 to three under .900. One goalie I found interesting when looking at goalies was Roberto Luongo. Unfortunately known for underachieving and cracking under pressure. He only played in seven postseasons but he has better numbers in the playoffs than Fleury. His career GAA is 2.49 and save percentage is .918. To compare Fleury's numbers are 2.58 and .911. Luongo also had five postseasons with a save percentage over .900 with just two under that mark. This is in no way a prediction that Fleury will struggle come playoff time. Predictions, I think, are pointless. You look stupid when you're wrong and who really cares when you're right. Still, when I hear people say Fleury is a proven playoff goalie I still don't buy it. Yes, he can be exceptional, but he's also proven he can be a bit of a train wreck at the biggest time of the year. You don't have to worry about Vegas as a team in my opinion. They play the same way almost every night and it is a hard working style. A hard to beat style at that. They are one of the better defensive teams in the NHL this season. They are eighth in scoring chances against, fourteenth in goals against while 5v5. To me, that makes Marc-Andre Fleury to most important player on the Golden Knights. The Knights will have to make it past offensive heavyweights in Calgary in San Jose. If they get even average goaltending I don't think they make a very long run. It's time for Fleury to finally make it three straight impressive playoff performances. If he does, you might be seeing a parade in Las Vegas. CJ Witt
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