Fleury likely in final season with Pens
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury got the start against the Edmonton Oilers Friday, maybe because he had won seven straight against them, but once the playoffs start, he’ll likely be watching Matt Murray as he did last spring when the Pittsburgh Penguins rolled to the Stanley Cup.
The Penguins will have to convince Fleury to waive his no-trade clause to move him so they can protect the much younger Murray in the expansion draft, but that’ll most likely happen.
Fleury, the guy in net when the Penguins won the 2009 Cup over Detroit, would rather be a starter somewhere else than take a back seat to Murray. He’s a team player, but also a proud guy. Cheerleading isn’t for him at 32, not after these playoffs.
Fleury, always co-operative with the media, doesn’t talk on game days like a lot of goalies, so it was left to coach Mike Sullivan to offer up his analysis of the tandem, with Fleury playing his 33rd game Fri- day, while Murray’s had 39. On the first shift, he got tested when he stopped Connor McDavid before getting bowled over by the bolt-oflightning Oilers captain.
“We believe we have the best goaltending tandem in the league. Two No. 1s, both really good, both giving us a chance to win every single night. Our challenge this year has been to find enough net for both of them,” said Sullivan. “They’re both competitive guys who want to play.”
Murray, 22, became the fourth rookie goalie to lead his team to the Cup last spring with 15 playoff wins.
NEW KID
Oilers coach Todd McLellan said nobody in his dressing room is surprised McDavid is trying to hold off Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Kane and Brad Marchand for the scoring race.
“It’s been done before by Sid (in his second year in 2006-07), back to his 20, 21-year old days (actually 19). The iconic-type players seem to rise to the top. There is a wow factor but it has been done by those types of guys before. We come to expect it of Connor. He’s that talented and committed,” said McLellan. McDavid went into the Penguins’ game with a leagueleading 22 two-point games, one more than Malkin.
DIAPERS OFF
David Desharnais, who got the Oilers’ first goal against the Penguins in his third game since being traded for Brandon Davidson Feb. 28, is still getting his feet wet.
“There’s guys who grow up in the NHL, we call them diaper players because you enter the league as a very young player and they’ve always been with one organization. That’s all they’ve ever known,” said McLellan. “But once you’ve moved once or twice, it’s easier to adapt or adjust.”
SPEEDY SMALL
The Penguins keep coming up with small, skilled forwards to plug into their Cup lineup. Last year, it was
five-foot-eight Conor Sheary, who’s almost a point-a-game player now. This year, they’ve found a place for the 180-pound draftee Jake Guentzel, 22, who went into the Oilers’ game with nine goals and 17 points in 28 games. Guentzel and Sheary were flanking Sidney Crosby on the No. 1 line, but the former University of NebraskaOmaha kid probably figures more as a second-line forward.
“He’s a lot like Sheary. For a guy who’s not overly big, he plays a stiff game. He makes us a better team,” said Sullivan.
Guentzel scored the fastest-ever goal by a Pittsburgh player in his first NHL game (62 seconds) against the New York Rangers. First goal on his first shot on his first shift of the game, he had two goals in his maiden NHL voyage.
THIS ' N ’ THAT
Pittsburgh winger Tom Sestito, who got four games for hitting Winnipeg defenceman Toby Enstrom from behind into the boards Wednesday night, didn’t buy his punishment. “I didn’t agree with it, but you have to serve ’em,” said Sestito.