NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- OK, let's try this again, this time with greater gusto: Marc-Andre Fleury is needed.
Now.
Last time I wrote that, it sent some readers, radio guys and other observers into seizures, even though the stance couldn't have been simpler or more innocuous: The Penguins were heading home for a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference final, and every edge should have been sought, from a more athletic goaltender who's more capable of making the great save to all the ancillary warmth and fuzziness that would accompany the fan reaction to his return.
Oh, and this, too: Fleury had been nothing less than his team's best player, at times singlehandedly stealing games from the Blue Jackets and Capitals, two of the NHL's top three teams.
So yeah, I expressed that as an option. Didn't pound it particularly hard. Whichever way Mike Sullivan would go, I was going to be fine with it. And, after Ottawa was ousted, I sure was.
Not this time. And please, for those who went apoplectic the last time, hear me out the whole way.
This Stanley Cup Final needs a seismic shift.
For more reasons than any follower would care to count right about now, these Penguins need ... not just something extra but something extraordinary.
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"Lineup decisions or whatever," the coach spoke through a slight snarl, "we just finished the game about a minute and a half ago."
I later asked whether, because Fleury hadn't played since Game 3 in Ottawa, he'd still have confidence that Fleury could overcome rust if called upon.
"We have confidence in all of our guys. We have confidence in all of our guys," he repeated. "That's why they're on this team. We believe in every one of them."
Obviously, that wasn't going anywhere.
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"It's nothing different than what Washington did," he said. "They make a lot of space plays. They like to open the ice up. We have to find where those guys are and read their speed better."
