The subtle little digs that Caps blogs love to take will be piling in at Marc-Andre Fleury...In fact, they've already begun:
It's a different Pens team now, to be sure... but it's the same Pens goalie.
To be sure, Marc-Andre Fleury's stat line against Washington this year is not very good, as Seth from Empty Netters broke it down:
1-3-0, 4.73 GAA and a .873 save percentage.
Yeah, that's ugly. But let's take a look at Fleury's 2007-08 numbers against a Washington Capitals team thatis largely the same then, as it was now--inherently more experienced now, but the key players remain:
2-0-0, 1.50 GAA and a .957 save percentage.
And in 2006-07?
3-0-0, 2.27 GAA and a .922 save percentage.
It's undisputable that Fleury (and the Pens defense in front of him) have had a rough time with the Capitals this year. But historically, he's been good against Washington. Also, Fleury's creating a great playoff body of work.
Throw that up against a guy who's got 12 NHL games (though an impressive record of 8-2--1). Simeon Varlamov, without question, is the goalie of the future. But he's a goalie who's never seen the strength of forwards in an NHL series that Pittsburgh will throw at him. Marc-Andre Fleury has seen what Washington can do.
Given the choice, I'll gladly take the Flower I know over the young buck I do not.