Is A Goalie Controversy Brewing in Pittsburgh?

Things are brewing in Pittsburgh. The long term answer at goaltender in Pittsburgh is Matt Murray. The short term answer in Pittsburgh is…Matt Murray? That may come as a shock to some, but Matt Murray has been lights out in this opening round series against the New York Rangers. You can't deny that he has. I love it, the team loves it, the fans love it. He's given Pittsburgh a reason to hope.

Marc-Andre Fleury has owned the crease for 11 years in the black and gold of Pittsburgh. It's obvious he's won over the fan base and management is confident in him as well. But there is always a time, and I think it needs to be monitored a bit closer now.

Murray had taken the NHL by storm, posting a 9-2 regular season record with a 2.00 GAA, .930 save percentage and a shutout. His poise in the net is unmatched. As he get further into a game, he settles in more and more. It's almost like you can tell the outcome after the first period. He's won his first two playoff starts. He's got a shutout in only his second career postseason start and has kept the Penguins steamrolling.

Fleury? Well he is no slouch either. He posted a career low in GAA (2.29) and tied a career high in save percentage (.921). He's like a fine-wine in the sense that he's getting much better with age. At 31 years old, Fleury enters his prime playing some of the best hockey of his entire career.

If you aren’t a casual Penguins fan, this is all relevant because Marc-Andre Fleury just suffered his second concussion in a little under four months. As a goalie in the NHL, that's not the ideal injury to have to deal with. Shots come up high and hit goalies nightly. Both of his concussions were assumed because of shots to his helmet (the first may have been due to an accidental elbow from Chris Kunitz in practice).

Head Coach Mike Sullivan has been a perpetual believer that changing the lineups after a win is unforeseen. What if Marc-Andre Fleury gets healthy enough to play? Sullivan has a huge, but great, problem on his hands.

Fleury has been frustrated by his lack of playing lately. Multiple reporters throughout Twitter have said that his body language is off, he seems depressed. That's understandable. Flower has been accustomed to playing 65+ games a season. It's especially tough when you've got a serious injury and the team really isn't hurting in your absence. There is not as much urgency to rush Fleury back right now and that has to be frustrating.

If Fleury is frustrated when he's not playing, but Murray is playing every game and the Penguins are heading for a deep playoff run, what will Sullivan do?

The answer is simple: It's Matt Murray’s time to shine.

I'm as big of a Fleury fan as the next guy. He's currently the longest tenured guy on the team. I've defended him through all of his toughest times. I've been a supporter of him at his highest times. But if the young protege, and eventual replacement, Murray keeps winning games, how can you change the lineup?

Fleury is a veteran. He's never been in this position before where he had his job legitimately threatened. Tomas Vokoun was the closest goalie to supplanting MAF until he had blood clots that forced him to retire. In my personal opinion, he wasn't even that close to taking the job anyway. Fleury’s going to continue to age. He's going to continue to give pointers to Matt Murray, who's got this goalie position on lock.

It's going to get to the point that if Murray keeps playing like this, Fleury is going to become expendable. I hate to say it, but with a young supply crop of goalies coming up through the ranks Fleury isn't going to be a Penguin forever. If he is, he's going to have to accept what the future might be sooner rather than later.

I personally believe any possible talk of Fleury going anywhere other than Pittsburgh is at least another full season away. Even if the remarkable happens and Murray leads the Penguins to the Stanley Cup title, I want to see that he can sustain this success again next season. I've seen Marc-Andre Fleury play. I can tell he's getting better. I need Matt Murray to show that his ceiling is even higher than what he's achieved so far.

Fleury’s cap hit of $5,750,000 is a great one for an elite starting goalie in the NHL. He's signed to that for another three seasons. If the Penguins feel that Murray is the man going forward after next season, he's got two more seasons on a very good contract for a starting goalie and as a proven winner could bring you back a pretty substantial haul in a trade.

I think now the best thing to do is to sit back and watch. Watch these two goalies have a friendly battle and bring the best out of each other over at least next season and hopefully beyond. The NHL is a business and there will be many who inquire about one, if not both, goalies this off season. But for now, let's watch Flower and Murray shine and hopefully bring some hardware back to Pittsburgh for years to come.