Prior to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets’ first round playoff match-up, and despite the star power featured in the series, we all knew it would come down to one thing: whether goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury would be able to out-duel his counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky. As it turned out, he could, but just barely.
For Penguins fans, it was a series littered with “here we go again” moments. In game two, Fleury allowed the game tying goal and the overtime winner within 10 minutes of playing time, but game four is when it really appeared that the meltdown was nigh.
Columbus scored the tying goal with just 24 seconds left in the third period after Fleury wrongfully went behind the net to slow up a dump in, a play that he ultimately flubbed as he was seen scrambling helplessly back into his crease as Brandon Dunbinsky smacked the puck into a nearly empty net. Fleury’s inability to recover from this brain cramp became quite apparent just 2:49 into overtime, when Nick Folingo scored to tie the series at 2-2.
However, to Fleury’s credit, he did respond with a 23-save effort in a 3-1 game five victory to give the Penguins the series lead. It was a series lead they would not relinquish, thanks in large part to a hat-trick by Evgeni Malkin in game six, though it was not without it’s anxious moments. With a 4-0 lead in game six, and the series seemingly within Pittsburg’s grasp, Fleury nearly had another epic meltdown.
He allowed three goals in the third period, nearly giving up yet another multi-goal lead and allowing Columbus to force a game seven before time ran out on the Jackets’ season, much to the relief of a beleaguered Fleury. He finished the series with a 2.81 gaa, a .908 save percentage and, most importantly, four wins. It was by no means a stellar performance, but it was what we’ve come to expect from Fleury over the years: enough to win.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of Bobrovksy. The Jackets’ star goalie and biggest hope to advance to the second round was largely a non-factor against the Penguins. He allowed less than three goals only once, in game five, a game that Columbus ultimately lost, though not for lack of effort on Bobrovsky’s part. In fact, he was brilliant, making 48 saves in that 3-1 loss, but it wasn’t enough to pull out the win on that night.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Bobrovksy’s series wasn’t that he was pedestrian, in fact a quick perusal of his career post-season stats could convince most that Bobrovsky would struggle at times. No, the most surprising part was that he wasn’t able to steal at least one game from the Penguins, or the two that Columbus likely needed if they were to have a hope of advancing.
After all, this is a Jackets squad that lives and dies on Bobrovsky’s shoulders, and the hope was he could at least out-play Fleury on a few nights. He did so, yet his two wins were more of product of the goaltender opposite him failing, not his own efforts.
He matched Fleury’s .908 save percentage, but posted a bloated 3.18 gaa and 20 goals against in six games. Considering how many shots the Penguins were pumping on goal (they finished the series with a +22 shot differential) that wasn’t enough, and just two wins in six games proves it. His one good effort, the 48 saves in game game five, was the only time he managed to outshine Fleury.
In the Stanley Cup playoffs that’s just not enough, and that’s also why the Blue Jackets are one-and-done for the second time in franchise history.
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