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If anyone knows what it’s like, Pittsburgh Penguins fans in goal after disappointing playoff results take the heat away, it’s Marc-Andre Fleury.
With five trips to the Stanley Cup final and three Stanley Cup rings on his fingers, Fleury has seen many postseason successes. But he’s also struggled with many post-season failures.
Like 2007, ’08, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14 and ’15. And that’s just the Pittsburgh years.
Sometimes he deserved to be roasted for those postseason flops. Many times, however, these penguins’ defeats were not his fault.
Still, Fleury always seemed to take most of the blame from the fans and some media members anyway.
As a result, he knows what current Penguins goalkeeper Tristan Jarry is after a terrible playoff series against the New York Islanders going through. Fresh from a Vezina Trophy season with the Vegas Golden Knights, Fleury gave Jarry some wisdom when he appeared on the « Mark Madden Show » on Friday.
« It’s hard, » Fleury told The X at 105.9. « I was there. I think you learn from these tough moments. I think you take what happened and try to learn from it. ”
The penguins don’t seem so sure. It is said the Penguins are considering several goalkeeping options for the next year.
Despite the ups and downs Fleury went through during his years in Pittsburgh, it took Matt Murray two Stanley Cups before he was ousted. Jarry only had one post-season retirement. We’ll see if he has a chance to recover from the way Fleury did after losing five games to the Ottawa Senators in his first encounter of the postseason.
« Try to get in the fields that didn’t go the way you wanted, ”suggested Fleury Jarry. “Keep working. It’s an experience he’s had and I’m sure he’ll be great next season. ”
Despite a stellar campaign in 2021 – which ended in his first vezina as the NHL’s best goalkeeper – suffered Fleury received another of those playoff disappointments when his Golden Knights lost to Montreal in the semifinals. It was a series that activated his puck-handling slip in Game 3, which was just as tragic as Jarry’s against the New York Islanders in Game 5 of the first round.
Eventually, at the end of that series, Fleury found himself like back on the bench for Robin Lehner in the 2020 playoffs.
Although Fleury’s good efforts catapulted him to third all-time wins in 2021, the campaign didn’t end without a sour taste resembling what Jarry swallowed had to.
« Every season, every playoff, it’s never always perfect, » said Fleury. “I think it’s always about leaving the bad behind quickly and moving on and trying to win the next game. That’s always my focus. ”
The problem for Fleury was that he was benched after his mistake in the next game and Jarry scored five goals in 24 shots en route to a 5-2 elimination defeat in his next Start allowed. While there are many questions in Pittsburgh, Fleury is confident that his new team can string together another nice playoff run next year.
« We’re not far away. It’s tough for us, ”said Fleury over four playoff seasons in a row in the first four years of the Golden Knights’ existence. “I love our group. We fight. Maybe the power play didn’t click that much (during) the last few laps. Keep chopping on it. Do our best. ”
Fleury would like to continue helping Vegas find its way to the Stanley Cup. He says he has no plans to retire anytime soon and claims he wants to keep playing as long as his body can hold out and he’s having fun on the ice.
Elsewhere in the interview, Fleury spoke about how he did managed to stay in such great shape despite having been in the league for 17 years. He also described his thoughts on what winning a Vezina means in terms of his career résumé, why his transition to Las Vegas went so smoothly after 13 years in Pittsburgh, and the prospect of being elected to the Hall of Fame.
Tim Benz is a contributor to Tribune Review. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or on Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless otherwise noted.
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