Fleury's brilliance has Pens still within striking distance

PITTSBURGH -- They were the most important 60 seconds of the Pittsburgh Penguins season and the team's franchise goalie was told to watch them from the bench.

It wasn't a slight, mind you, because had Marc-Andre Fleury been anything less than spectacular for the first 59 minutes of Game 5, the Penguins would not have been in position to pull him for the extra attacker, who scored the equalizer and kept Pittsburgh alive in these Stanley Cup Finals.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 55 saves in Pittsburgh's Game 5 victory. (Getty Images)

"He really was the savior for us," said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby the day after his team won 4-3 in triple overtime at Detroit. "Without him, we'd be in a different scenario here."

No doubt. Fleury stopped 55 shots against the Red Wings, including 24 in two and a half periods of electrifying and intense overtimes, a performance for the ages under the most pressure-packed circumstances possible. It was a defining effort for the young goalie who becomes a restricted free agent this summer, one that breathed new life into his team's championship hopes this spring and likely put to rest any of the lingering doubts that have followed Fleury since he was anointed franchise savior at the tender age of 18.

That was back in 2003, before the arrivals of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal, when Fleury became only the third goaltender in history to be drafted first overall. Of course the distinction of being taken with that pick is usually offset by the fact it means going to a pretty bad team, and in Fleury's case, the situation was made even worse because of the Penguins' dire financial situation.

Facing bankruptcy again, the organization had been unloading high-priced stars for a couple of years and needed something to help mollify its fans. So, instead of giving its newest prize a chance to grow up before getting to the NHL, Pittsburgh rushed Fleury into the lineup the following season when he was still eligible to play junior hockey. It was an attempt to sell some tickets more than to improve the team, but the plan bordered on the disaster because Fleury clearly wasn't ready and suffered the consequences with such a weak team in front of him.

"It was really hard to watch," said Penguins forward Ryan Malone. "I mean the guy was seeing so many shots, it was ridiculous. We didn't have a very good team and he was getting lit up all the time, so everyone really kept wondering why this was happening and where we were going."

That didn't take long to figure out. The Penguins ended up dead last while Fleury played in 22 games, winning just four and posting a goals-against average of 3.64. He started the season in Pittsburgh and showed flashes the talent that made him his draft year prize, but Fleury was sent back to junior in December, only to be recalled a month later, moves that raised questions about whether his development was being mishandled.

"I don't think so," Fleury said of his rush to the pros. "It was a tough situation with the team we had and I was pretty young, but getting to the NHL is everybody's dream and I was glad to have the chance. I think it helped me get better."

Not according to his many critics, who were still riding him as recently as this season despite the 40-win campaign he put together in 2006-07. Fleury had a slow start and then went down with a high ankle sprain in December, but instead of fading, the Penguins actually caught fire because backups Ty Conklin and Dany Sabourin went 23-11-5 in the his absence. To the cynics, that was an indication that Fleury was really nothing more than an average goaltender on an offensively talented team.

Before these playoffs began, Shero even joked that he was spent Christmas looking for the kind of goaltender many felt was the missing piece on the team, but "there were none available," although when the GM turned serious in that same discussion, he insisted that the organization never had any intention of giving up on Fleury

However, the Penguins didn't intend on handing the job back to him either. So when Fleury returned from his injury, Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien said he'd have to battle for the starting position all over again.

"To Marc-Andre's credit, he earned it," Shero said.

Fleury went 10-2-1 down the stretch and was superb through the first three rounds of the playoffs. His quickness and agility weren't particularly visible in the first two Finals games the Red Wings, but he has put together three strong performances in a row, and in many ways, carries the Penguins' hopes on his shoulders as they prepare for Game 6 at home Wednesday -- and try to push this series to the limit.

"I think I'll just go one game at a time because you don't want to get carried away," Fleury said. "But we're not done here, so it's been pretty good."