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March 15, 2007
The Net Heats Up in Pittsburgh
After going 12-0-2 between January 13th and February 16th, with a SV% of .909 and a GAA of 2.76, Marc-Andre Fluery has cooled off, going 4-2-1 in 9 games, 8 of which he started. His SV% dropped to .881 and his GAA has risen to 3.28. With Marc-Andre Fluery's recent struggles in net, Jocelyn Thibault has gotten several starts. Since Jan. 27th Thibault has gotten 6 starts, including his shutout last night, plus has finished off a game for Fluery. In that span he has gone 5-2-0. His SV% has been a .870, with a GAA of 1.94. With some experts questioning Fluery's performance of late, one can only wonder if they will lean towards this season's NHL trend of splitting time more equally between netminders. At the beginning of March SportingNews' Kara Yorio said; At times, Fleury, 22, has looked like the big-game goaltender playoff teams need. But more recently, he hasn't. The point streak ended with a 6-5 decision against the Islanders in which Fleury looked lost for most of the afternoon. He was benched last week in favor of backup Jocelyn Thibault, but the Penguins aren't going to ride Thibault in the postseason. So the question is, will Pittsburgh continue to give Fluery almost all the starts, hoping he will get back into a rythym before the playoff roll around? Or will Thibault get more starts, giving Fluery a rest and time to think things over? I'm guessing that the Pens will lean towards the former in an attempt to get Fluery back to form. But after outdueling Martin Broduer, I wouldn't doubt it if Thibault gets 3 or 4 more starts before playoffs start. At least Pittsburgh knows that should Fluery have any problems in the postseason, injury or otherwise, they have a capable backup in Jocelyn Thibault. And if knowing that boosts the team's confidence, it doesn't really matter if Thibault is on the bench or between the pipes.
Joe Dumas
12:28 AM
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