Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 by Adam Wagner
Fleury in playoff form as Pens clinch
First and foremost, your Pittsburgh Penguins are returning to the playoffs for the second consecutive season, clinching a spot with a 2-0 win over the Most Boring Team in NHL History, or the New Jersey Devils. Ryan Malone scored his 27th goal of the season to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead early in the game and that held until Marian Hossa scored his 28th goal to finish it off. (It is somewhat amazing that Malone only has one goal fewer than Hossa does.) The most important thing tonight, though, was that Marc-Andre Fleury pretty much stood on his head in order to earn the Penguins the two points.
If Fleury goes into the playoffs playing like he did tonight, the Penguins have a legitimate chance to make some noise. After all, it was only last season that the formerly inconsistent goalie took charge in the playoffs and came about as close as one player can to leading the Penguins to victory in a series in which they were otherwise completely outmatched.
A consistent Fleury is as good as anyone not named Kiprusoff or Brodeur in the NHL and could carry the Penguins deep into the spring. He is absolutely vital to any playoff run, since Ty Conklin has started performing like Ty Conklin against instead of the star that we saw earlier this spring, so Fleury’s performance will be vital to any success that the Penguins have in the playoffs.
Just as importantly, the rest of the team looks more confident with Fleury in net. He is so confident right now that the other players feel like he can make a momentum-shifting change that Conklin probably would not. This leads to the team being more creative, in general, and playing better hockey.
The Penguins took a large step towards securing the division tonight, but they have a long way to go. And not facing Ottawa (again) would be a huge positive, meaning that the Pens probably need to win the Atlantic if they hope to make a run at Lord Stanley’s Cup.
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