I think we just expect that from both Sid and Geno so it's simply not surprising. Fleury going into the season we had no idea what to expect from him and most of us didn't want him here no more and wanted Vokoun as the starter prior to the start of training camp. He has played solid since the start and deserves the praise, now he needs to keep it up and carry this into the playoffs
Absolutely.
Fleury's turnaround hasn't even really begun, yet. But it's a promising start. And I have a hard time believing that having a real coach working with him isn't a huge part of the equation. Yet another one of those painfully obvious things that took far too long for the team to address.
It's Fleury by a mile. He also has the best "Wins above replacement" if you want to look at a baseball metric, partially because his replacement is awful, and partially because he's been that good. And moreso, a stabilizing, calm good.
2nd on my list is Martin, he's the cornerstone of entire defense, when he goes down it's a domino effect throughout the lineup, as others have mentioned.
Sid is next in line, but if he went down, Malkin would get Kunitz, and would certainly begin playing a lot better, as we had signs of last night. So the dropoff from Sid isn't that great considering his replacement.
I am not one to subscribe to this board's propensity to hate on our wingers, but the reality is that we have two top line centers, and only two top line wingers, James Neal is a legit top line sniper, and Kunitz is a legit 3rd wheel. Dupuis, Jokinen, and BB are not really adequate even on 2nd lines at this point. So Sid suffers disproportionately, as he has no legitimate sniper to play with.
The fact that Geno shines when Crosby goes down is no coincidence or testament to Geno's superhuman abilities when Crosby isn't nearby. It's because he gets all the good wingers then. And even facing top D pairings, he will be dominant with good supporting players.
Doesn't mean it's not projecting to be on par with his worst statistical season right now. His points pace this year is the same as his rookie year.Isn't he still leading the league in points and on pace for 100+ this season?
unfortunately Flower. not even close. and that is not good
Fully agree on most of this but I like JJ. The guy is always open, ok defensively, a good passer and takes quality shots. IMO he's not like Sykora but more like an older Ziggy that we saw during Sids rookie year.It's Fleury by a mile. He also has the best "Wins above replacement" if you want to look at a baseball metric, partially because his replacement is awful, and partially because he's been that good. And moreso, a stabilizing, calm good.
2nd on my list is Martin, he's the cornerstone of entire defense, when he goes down it's a domino effect throughout the lineup, as others have mentioned.
Sid is next in line, but if he went down, Malkin would get Kunitz, and would certainly begin playing a lot better, as we had signs of last night. So the dropoff from Sid isn't that great considering his replacement.
I am not one to subscribe to this board's propensity to hate on our wingers, but the reality is that we have two top line centers, and only two top line wingers, James Neal is a legit top line sniper, and Kunitz is a legit 3rd wheel. Dupuis, Jokinen, and BB are not really adequate even on 2nd lines at this point. So Sid suffers disproportionately, as he has no legitimate sniper to play with.
The fact that Geno shines when Crosby goes down is no coincidence or testament to Geno's superhuman abilities when Crosby isn't nearby. It's because he gets all the good wingers then. And even facing top D pairings, he will be dominant with good supporting players.