Fleury has regressed, no doubt about it. Sorry if I overstated the goals go in on "anyone". I can be pretty critical on fleury but it's little things, last game. He was just a little not square on the first goal the shot was going top far corner, it's not like it was aimed at his chest it was a well placed shot, he fought it off but since he wasn't square to the shooter it trickled farside. Grade A scoring chance, he stops it but because of his mistake the attacker crashing the net with defender at his back gets an easy goal. Definitely a mistake by fleury.
However let's use this vid for reference:
Goal 4 against, very similar. I was not happy with Murray because Ovechkin is a right handed shot below the dot, there is literally no reason in the world to be that far out of your net you can't argue he's being aggressive and taking the shot away, he just lost his net completely. That is a much much bigger mistake then not being 100% square to the shooter.
Now the similarity is that the defense did him no favors at all. If you look closely Sheehan is trying to get his stick in the way, it looks like Ovie is tryin to pass, letang is actually in a decent spot, BUT the attacker at his back changes direction at the same time the puck hits Sheehan's stick and goes right to him. Letang is not aware of were his man went, combined with the fact that for no apparent reason Murray is 2 feet out of his net means it's an easy goal. Both goal 1 of game 4 for Fleury, and game 5 goal 4 against Murray have goal tender miscues. I just think that Murray's was a big mistake, and fleury's was a smaller one. Though both ended up in the net so...
Also in that video above, I don't think I need to say anything about goal #2 against other woof!
Goal 1 against, I want to say just good shot by karlsson, but when I really look at it Murray is so crouched and he doesn't really do himself favors trying to find the puck. There was a sight line to be had on that puck I remember Milbury saying he could see the puck but just doesn't pick it up, I dunno if Murray just couldn't pick it up or the bodies got him unfocused or what. I just hate pucks from that far out going in. Still this is not as egregious as the other 2 goals I just mentioned in game 5. But why harp on Murray? I do like Fleury, but he's not my goalie no more, and I worry more about the guys with a penguins sweater. Fleury is not a Penguin anymore, wish him the best but that's it. Also. Vegas is not exactly setting themselves up to succeed and the only thing holding them back is goal tending right now. They are literally missing crazy good chances, and Holtby is literally one of the luckiest goalies I have watched.
Pens out played the Caps 4 out of 6 games, despite being injuried like crazy, despite our boneheaded lapses we still had MORE grade A scoring opportunities. This is not the case in Vegas/Caps. I don't feel like Vegas has played like they have been able to against other opponents.
So game 6, that first goal Murray let up was another woof. BUT we didn't put up more then 1, just can't win that way. Like vegas we did get grade A chances and beat Holtby, and hit posts or just missed.
My critique on Fleury right now. He is making mostly minor mistakes. They become noticeable because against the caps and the way the hockey gods have this going any mistake against the caps will go in the net. Especially since every cap seems to make it to the net unimpeded. The big thing is he is making far too many mistakes. So while he is not perhaps making a worse play then say murray, he's making more mistakes and it's really killing Vegas right now.
Game 4 was really bad for Fleury, the corsi, danger chances are all super lopsided in Vegas's favor. I was surprised how lopsided the stats came out. In all fairness I turned the game off after the 3rd goal against vegas. The way pucks were going in and how the knights couldn't convert it was over.
Vegas played the game they should have, but Holtby was very very lucky. ANY mistake fleury made was going in the net. High danger chances, 12 for vegas, 5 for the caps. Corsi was over 60% for vegas. They needed fleury to be a lot better in this, I don't think this is the same as pucks going in off the back boards and him putting it in his net bad. Fleury is not as bad as those stats say, but he is definitely not playing well and no matter how you slice it when you out play the caps like that statistically you need to win whether it's Offense not converting, defense breaking down badly, or goalie not playing well. I think all 3 are in play here. But regardless it is a must win game Fleury needed to come up big for them instead he laid an egg. Stinks because he's a great guy and the previous 3 rounds should be almost required viewing for aspiring goalies.
Who knows fleury has it in him to steal the next 2 games and force game 7, I highly doubt that that happens. But I really don't want to see Tom Wilson with a cup above his head.
