Post-Game Talk: Plus/Minus: Fleury & Sid against Western Canada

[Dipsy Doodle]

Doubt is warranted. That goes for the entire team but definitely maf. But we should, like you did, acknowledge the good.

For sure. It was nice to see him get that 8th shutout.

 

[BeautiPhil]

Pretty easy to make the case that he's the single most culpable player on the team for the Pens' playoff struggles from 2010 to 2014, which is why some people were pissed when he re-signed.

But he had a pretty good playoffs last year, and is playing very well this year when the opponents aren't from the Metro. I really do hope he thrives in the playoffs this year.

Well 2012 was a complete abandonment of any defensive structure whatsoever in the Flyers series. Fleury was abysmal, but the team in front surely wasn't helping him.

2010 was the inability to score on Halak who threw it into deity mode for that series.

2011 was the Lightning series. We were without Sid and Malkin, so he needed to step up to secure that series and didn't.

2013 against the Islanders he certainly was playing piss poor. Vokoun helped settle our team down and help us to play better defensively as well.

2014 he really only played badly in game 3 (was it?) against Columbus.

In summary:
2010 playoffs: Not the problem
2011 playoffs: Part of the problem
2012 playoffs: Part of the problem
2013 playoffs: Big problem, but bigger problems showed up against Boston
2014 playoffs: Not the problem

His playoff performance leaves much to be desired, and is still a question mark. I just don't understand the mentality of "get rid of Fleury and we'll win a cup" which the anti-Fleury crowd seem to frequently allude to.

I've been a member of the Fleury Hate Brigade before, especially in 2013. But we have more pressing issues at hand.

 

[SEALBound]

Well 2012 was a complete abandonment of any defensive structure whatsoever in the Flyers series. Fleury was abysmal, but the team in front surely wasn't helping him.

2010 was the inability to score on Halak who threw it into deity mode for that series.

2011 was the Lightning series. We were without Sid and Malkin, so he needed to step up to secure that series and didn't.

2013 against the Islanders he certainly was playing piss poor. Vokoun helped settle our team down and help us to play better defensively as well.

2014 he really only played badly in game 3 (was it?) against Columbus.

In summary:
2010 playoffs: Not the problem
2011 playoffs: Part of the problem
2012 playoffs: Part of the problem
2013 playoffs: Big problem, but bigger problems showed up against Boston
2014 playoffs: Not the problem

His playoff performance leaves much to be desired, and is still a question mark. I just don't understand the mentality of "get rid of Fleury and we'll win a cup" which the anti-Fleury crowd seem to frequently allude to.

I've been a member of the Fleury Hate Brigade before, especially in 2013. But we have more pressing issues at hand.

Fair assessment except in 2010. If you go back to the Montreal series and look at the goals he let in, he was every bit as bad as he was in 2012 and 2013. We can excuse 2011. But basically every playoff series that we've been healthy since the Cup, Fleury has poo'd the bed. Last year was a step in the right direction, minus one or two. But in 2010, he was just as much the problem as our offense not being able to score on Halak (who to his credit, was a god).

It's easy to gain confidence that he's turned it around in the regular season because historically he plays very well in the regular season. But at this point, there's no way you can NOT label him as a legitimate question mark in the playoffs. X factor if you will. If we win the Cup, Fleury needs to be the Conn Smyth winner...if that's possible. Unless Sid or Geno go on a Wayne or Mario 2.0 run and single handedly win it.

 

[ColePens]

And i hate taking this discussion down the wrong road. We should be celebrating as opposed to talking about playoffs...but we all have to realize the last 6 years made this type of talk continue to happen.

It would be nice, like this season, if Fleury was part of the SOLUTION to win games as opposed to "not part of the problem." It would be nice if he stole a series for us.

But let's face that road when we get there.

 

[Zen Arcade]

Fair assessment except in 2010. If you go back to the Montreal series and look at the goals he let in, he was every bit as bad as he was in 2012 and 2013. We can excuse 2011. But basically every playoff series that we've been healthy since the Cup, Fleury has poo'd the bed. Last year was a step in the right direction, minus one or two. But in 2010, he was just as much the problem as our offense not being able to score on Halak (who to his credit, was a god).

Yeah, he also wasn't great in the Ottawa series, but it gets glossed over because of how good the offense was. Lots of early goals on fairly innocuous looking plays.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

+++ Kunitz-Crosby-Perron played very well, a tremendous game for this trio.

+ Fleury

- Arcobello was trash. Drop him back on waivers, do not want.

- Malkin's decision-making on the PP. Needs to be better, but he has missed a couple weeks.

 

[Ogrezilla]

If our best players play like our best players, we can compete with any team in the league. Its also just way more fun to watch

 

[AquaticBirdman]

I'm happy to say that Fleury has noticeably been the LEAST of our problems this season. Even in games where we've had our ***** handed to us on the scoreboard he's hardly been the route of the problem (recent loss against the Caps for instance). In most instances if Fleury has had a bad night statistically it's usually because the guys in front of him were complete no-shows and left him out to dry. He hasn't been prone to letting in the frequent terrible goals, and he's looked very calm and composed between the pipes, coming up with big save after big save night after night. Quite frankly I think this is the best he's looked since the 07/08 playoffs by a big margin.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

+++ Kunitz-Crosby-Perron played very well, a tremendous game for this trio.

+ Fleury

- Arcobello was trash. Drop him back on waivers, do not want.

- Malkin's decision-making on the PP. Needs to be better, but he has missed a couple weeks.

Arcobello is a nice insurance option as a 13 th forward. Can play anywhere in a pinch if someone gets banged up. Sure beats Ebbett. Hopefully Bennett gets a shot in that spot tonight

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

My main problem with the Fleury-hate crowd is that they seem to blame him for our playoff collapses.

Was he part of the problem? Certainly. Was he the entire problem? Not even close.

Pathetic team defense, lack of depth scoring or just scoring in general, getting physically dominated, failure of the coach to systematically adjust, piss poor neutral zone play and costly turnovers. It's way too easy to point fingers at the guy who ultimately lets the puck in the net, when all of the guys in front of him are playing like garbage.

How many goals did MAF score against Boston or the Rags?

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Arcobello is a nice insurance option as a 13 th forward. Can play anywhere in a pinch if someone gets banged up. Sure beats Ebbett. Hopefully Bennett gets a shot in that spot tonight

Agree with you there.

As for Portabello, I envision him being useless in the top 6 and extra useless come playoff time on any line. But maybe it's just me.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

Agree with you there.

As for Portabello, I envision him being useless in the top 6 and extra useless come playoff time on any line. But maybe it's just me.

I wouldn't say useless but he's certainly not an asset. Just a body that's not a liability and honestly that's all you can really ask from your 13th guy

 

[Kristopher Letang]

http://instagram.com/p/yybgu8wreA/

 

[SEALBound]

Arcobello is a nice insurance option as a 13 th forward. Can play anywhere in a pinch if someone gets banged up. Sure beats Ebbett. Hopefully Bennett gets a shot in that spot tonight

In the playoffs, Arco >>> Sill/Adams

 

[Kristopher Letang]

In the playoffs, Arco >>> Sill/Adams

Lower the bar you might hit the ground