Monday, May 16, 2016

Fleury and Reimer: Have You Seen These Missing Goalies?

Marc-Andre Fleury and James Reimer are two goalies in the same situation in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. And, of course, their stats are identical. What brought them to there is quite a different story.

Now, to get it out of the way fast, Reimer isn't the goalie Fleury is. Fleury, of course, helped the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup back in 2009, and make it all the way to the finals the previous year. Although the next few years were a struggle in the playoffs for Marc, he has shown life in the playoffs. Many were hoping that this was the year he regained his form in the playoffs. Although the Pens lost in the second round in 2014 and the first round last season, Marc's play was very good. Healthy, it was thought that he could contribute.

But Marc suffered two concussions this season, the second of which occurred on March 31st, late in the season. It was a shame. He'd won 35 of 58 games (All of them starts), and was in the top ten in save percentage (,921). Actually, that tied his career high. Pittsburgh roared into the playoffs after a bad start, and seemed poised for a deep run. Fleury went down, the Pens tried two goalies in their first round series vs. the Rangers.

Rather than lose it, it was Pittsburgh winning in five (and exact reverse of last season's result, and a repeat of the 2008 Conference Finals). The Pens settled on Matt Murray, rather than the experienced Jeff Zakoff. The move proved to be wise. Although Fleury was back on the bench in the second round series vs. Washington, he never got into any games. This series was excellent, with both Murray and Bradon Holtby providing some real top-notch goaltending. The Pens managed to hold the fort and prevail in six, despite blowing a 3-0 lead at home in the final contest.

The Eastern Conference Finals saw Murray in net against the Tampa Bay Lightning. At Pittsburgh proceeded to lose 3-1. Murray gave up the three goals on 20 shots. But it all likelihood, it will be Murray again in the second contest. Fleury has yet to appear in a single playoff game this postseason. And the Pens have played 12 games so far.

James Reimer is a different story. He hasn't had the stellar career yet that Fleury has. His one venture into the postseason ended with a heartbreaking game seven loss to Boston in 2013. Back then, he was a Toronto Maple Leaf. And he was still there when this season started. But he wasn't the #1 guy.

The Leafs go off to a sluggish start. But then something interesting happened. Toronto, who'd changed coaches in the offseason, started playing him. And he, if nothing else, kept the Leafs in many-a-game. With Toronto's other netminder, Jonathan Bernier struggling, the Leafs actually called up another goalie, Garrett Sparks to play. Garrett was too green to be the main man in the Toronto net.

Reimer played. He got hurt. He came back. He persevered. The Leafs were about a .500 team at the midway point of the season, and James looked like he'd won the job back that had been his back in 2013.

Then came a shocking trade to San Jose. Reimer had been below .500 (11-12-7), but had a .918 S% and low GAA 2.49. Once he got to the Sharks, those number became even better. From there, he went 6-2-0, 1.62, .938! It was truly a remarkable finish. Oh, and he tossed in three shutouts in his eight starts.

But San Jose got him to be the backup. Would you rather be a 1A or 1B on a not-so-good team like Toronto or a backup on a great team like San Jose? Well, in the playoffs, the Sharks turned to Martin Jones for the goaltending duties. Reimer was destined to ride the pines. The Sharks needed just five games to polish off Jones' old team, the Kings. Then, San Jose needed six games to beat the stubborn Nashville Predators. That took them to the Western Conference Finals. They gave the St. Louis Blues all they could handle in the opening tilt, only to lose 2-1. However, the signs here point to a long Conference Finals.

So, will either Fleury or Reimer play? Well, in Reimer's case, I think the answer is only in a relief role. So if Jones get shelled, he'll come in. But Martin has played very well so far, and you have to go with the hot hand (The same, of course, applies to Matt Murray). This is his first ever playoff series (Ditto for Murray) and he has responded well. But the Blues will undoubtedly be his toughest test. Maybe if St. Louis routs San Jose in game two. But I think the Sharks will steal the second contest and look to get ahead of the Blues at home.

Fleury could be a little closer. Is Murray just playing over his head? Well, I though he was the second best goalie out there in the last two games vs. Washington. Tampa Bay's goalie Ben Bishop left the game with an injury in the first game of the Conference Finals. He's listed as day-to-day. But his backup, Andrei Vaslevskiy, took over (Bishop had made nine saves, many of them spectacular before his injury) and was brilliant. Vas stopped 25 of the 26 shots that came his way, and Pittsburgh didn't get one by him until after they were behind 3-0. Game two is a big one. Tampa wants to steal another in Pittsburgh for two reasons: They can wait on Bishop and Steven Stamkos is rumoured to be on the comeback trail, this series! His return will give Tampa a huge boost. The Pens probably want this series in six or less, and losing game one made that just a little bit tougher to accomplish. But if Murray gets off to a bad start in the second game, Fleury will not only be back in the crease, but he'll probably get the nod in game three, as well!


References

The Canadian Press. "Jonathan Bernier Back In Leafs' Net After Minors Stint."  CBC.ca Canadian News Sports Entertainment Kids Docs Radio TV. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 15 Dec. 2015. Web. 16 May 2016. <http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/jonathan-bernier-maple-leafs-1.3366303>.

Gretz, Adam. "Marc-Andre Fleury Will Be Matt Murray's Backup For Pens In Game 3." CBSSports.com. CBS Sports. 2 May 2016. Web. 16 May 2016. <http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/ eye-on-hockey/25575399/marc-andre-fleury-will-be-matt-murrays-backup-for-pens-in-game-3>.

Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 16 May 2016.

"Official Site of the National Hockey League." NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 16 May 2016. <https://www.nhl.com>.

No comments:

Post a Comment