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The Pittsburgh Penguins got some bad news on the injury front on Tuesday.
Coach on Fleury: "He came to us last night and said he wasn't feeling right. He's being tested but there's a possibility it's a concussion."
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 15, 2015
Sullivan confirmed Fleury is definitely out tomorrow against the Bruins. Said he wasn't sure when Fleury may have been injured.
— Seth Rorabaugh (@emptynetters) December 15, 2015
Not great at all, Marc-Andre Fleury has been the Penguins best player early in the season, where they sit just 27th in Goals For in the league, despite having a ton of offensive talent. Without Fleury, it's really scary to think what the Penguins record would be. Certainly not the 15-11-3 they're at right now.
Fleury's durability has been one of his greatest qualities for the Pens. He hasn't had a major injury since a high ankle sprain since the 2007-08 season, and in recent years he's played 64, 64, 33 (lockout), 67, 65, 67 and 62 games. That's amazing consistency for a goaltender in this day and age. In fact, since the start of the 2008-09 season, Fleury's 447 games are 2nd in the league behind just Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers (and he's only 2 ahead at 449).
Even though the Penguins have uber-prospect Matt Murray, he's 21 years old and has zero NHL experience. Backup Jeff Zatkoff has only 26 games of NHL experience in his career.
The Pens need Fleury, especially now with a new coach this is a less than ideal time to be without the franchise goalie while already outside the playoff picture right now. But, that's where we are so we'll see.
Also, Beau Bennett is out 4-6 weeks with a shoulder injury after getting dumped into the boards by T.J. Oshie. Tough break, again, for Bennett who was finally getting a chance on the Pens top line but again, story of his career, just can't stay healthy.