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Penguins Report Card: Past & Present Center Stage
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- Penguins Report Card: Past & Present Center Stage
Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury
The ghost of Christmas future was neither an ominous specter nor a scary what-if, but rather, on a night created to say goodbye to Pittsburgh Penguins franchise legend Marc-Andre Fleury , it was quite fitting that the players who will make up the next generation figured prominently.
Quite prominently.
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The Penguins' goaltending rotation was a perfect foreshadowing of the future and past as top goalie prospect Sergei Murashov played the first 40 minutes, followed by Fleury playing the last 20.
The Columbus Blue Jackets brought a largely AHL and grinders squad, as is custom for road preseason games, but they also brought starting goalie Elvis Merzlikins . The Penguins stacked their lineup in honor of Fleury, dressing what could be most of their NHL lineup, including Sidney Crosby , Evgeni Malkin , and Kris Letang .
For one night, it was the Core Four again.
And the building rocked. In the third period, fans cheered every Fleury touch with a vociferous heartfelt expression. There was no reason to cheer Fleury stopping a puck before it went to the corner, but it was Fleury.
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Long-range saves were met with chants of "One more year." The few tough saves he made brought down the house.
However, Merzlikins kept the drama in the game. While young Penguins goalie Sergei Murashov (let's call him Mura-SAVE) made a few dandy saves in the first 40 minutes, Merzlikins was on the wrong end of a 26-13 Penguins' advantage, but it took the Penguins until the 39th minute of the game to claim a 2-1 lead.
And then, it was Fleury time.
The deafening crowd roared their approval for even the mundane. Even signing along to the between-play music.
And then, Columbus pushed. Those pesky Blue Jackets registered six shots in the first six minutes, including a couple of scoring chances.
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Fleury held.
And the Penguins veterans held.
And the Penguins' would-be rookies held.
It was a night that far exceeded expectations, made special not just by Fleury's appearance, but by a sellout crowd that came to show their love.
"The coaches, we looked at each other in the tunnel. How awesome was that?" Muse said.
It won't be the last goodbye Penguins fans have to give over the next few years, nay, it was just the first, but with every cheer, old wounds and frustrations melted away. With an overwhelming outpouring, the final Fleury memories in a Penguins uniform will be lifting the 2017 Stanley Cup, and an extraordinary celebration of his career in the most fitting way allowed.
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Fleury.
Penguins Report Card
Let's start with the kids. The veterans you know are great. They don't need my A or A+.
Harrison Brunicke: A
He's good. He kept his game simple, but still took what it gave him and played in the offensive zone, too. The moment was big–the atmosphere was circus-like–and Brunicke zipped around forecheckers, evaded trouble, and looked smooth doing it.
Yeah, he's not perfect, but he's ready.
Ben Kindel: A+
Big stage, big game. Kindel was great. It was easily his best showing of camp or the preseason. He commanded the puck in the offensive zone, dishing a few scoring chances to linemate Ville Koivunen .
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Technically, Rickard Rakell was listed at center, but it was Kindel who ran the show. He found space and time.
"The poise is there. The vision you see–he doesn't panic with the puck at all, which is impressive for a young player, and he clearly puts himself in some really, really good spots," said Muse.
Sergei Murashov: A+
He was good. Really good. As Muse noted, the Penguins were "disjointed" in the first period, and the resulting mistakes put Murashov on the hot seat. The 21-year-old goalie stopped six of seven shots in the first period and all six shots he faced when the Penguins took over the game in the second.
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"He played well he's he's been playing well throughout camp. I thought our first period wasn't sharp. I think there's just a bit disjointed (play), and because of that, he got to see some high-quality shots and he made some high-quality saves," said Muse. "So he's shown that. He's a he's young guy who competes every day."
Other would-be rookies also played well
Owen Pickering joined the rush a few times and defended well.
Avery Hayes made a deft backhand touch pass to spring Crosby for the Penguins' first goal.
Ville Koivunen was around the puck all night. He had a few high-grade scoring chances courtesy of Kindel, but didn't light the lamp until Merszlikins coughed up the puck behind the net for an easy tap-in.
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Tristan Broz. His fourth line started slow and wasn't noticeable until the second period, but once he, Boko Imama, and Rafael Harvey-Pinard found their game, they got the puck deep, pressured Columbus, and created offensive zone time. As fourth-line work goes, it was a success. Broz again won eight of 12 faceoffs.
Marc-Andre Fleury : Thank you.
Fleury's grace and good humor, his accessibility and joy, made the last couple of days an amazing spectacle that captured an entire fanbase, and even dented the emotions of this reporter. For the record, he stopped all eight shots he faced, except for one in the shootout…which he requested.
Merci.
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