After rough start to season, Blackhawks' Fleury seems to settling in
When Marc-Andre Fleury was traded from Vegas to the Blackhawks last off-season, it not only sent shock waves through the NHL, but it also shook the veteran goaltender to the core.
Fleury and his family loved Vegas. They made a home there and were deeply involved in the community.
Starting over at the twilight of his career wasn't exactly what the soon-to-be 37-year-old had in mind. But after visiting Chicago, talking to friends and family, and "getting a good night's sleep," the veteran woke up and decided: Let's do this thing.
"It just adds up and then, yeah, it's exciting," Fleury told the media in early August.
The transition, however, has been anything but easy. Or exciting.
Fleury, who made 31 saves in the Hawks' 4-2 victory at Seattle on Wednesday, was expected to be one of the key reasons for a Hawks resurgence. Instead, he allowed a flurry of goals against Colorado (4), Pittsburgh (4 in the first 11½ minutes), the Islanders (4) and Detroit (6).
After eight appearances, Fleury's save percentage (.881) and goals-against average (4.11) were last in the NHL.
Fleury clearly wasn't comfortable as he tried to get used to a new team, a new city and new teammates. He was losing his net, sliding out of position, diving at the wrong times and simply not trusting himself.
The result was too many soft goals as well as turnovers that led directly to scores.
"Very frustrating. Embarrassing," Fleury said when asked about his play after a 1-0 loss to St. Louis on Oct. 30. "Coming in, I obviously wanted to help the team. I wanted to get some wins."
That started happening when Fleury made 42 saves and stopped 2 shootout attempts Nov. 9 during a 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh at the United Center. He then turned away 22 shots in a 2-1 win over Arizona three nights later.
Fleury saw just 3 SOG in the first period against Seattle, then had to make a spectacular, lunging stop on Yanni Gourde with 16:26 remaining in the second. It was 1 of 16 shots the Kraken (4-11-1) fired at Fleury in the middle stanza - and 2 more hit posts.
Seth Jones opened the scoring at 15:03 of the first period, Alex DeBrincat made it 2-0 early in the second, and Patrick Kane made it 3-0 at 5:36 of the third.
Seattle got within 3-2 when Gourde scored with 1:49 remaining, but Jake McCabe scored from 150 feet away into an empty net with 25.4 seconds on the clock to ice the win for the Hawks.
Kane set up Jones' goal by streaking into the offensive zone and dishing a pass to DeBrincat, who fed Jones in front of the net. It was Jones' second goal of the season and his 300th career point.
DeBrincat now leads the Hawks with 9 goals, while Kane has 6.
The Hawks (5-9-2) have won four straight and extended Seattle's losing streak to five.
Fleury's confidence is clearly growing. It also helps that the Hawks have tightened things up all over the ice.
One of the first things the Hawks did after Jeremy Colliton was fired was to improve their transition game in the neutral zone. There has been a heavy emphasis on passing in every practice. The Hawks also worked on making line changes while coming through the neutral zone Monday.
"From my point of view I think we were giving up less breakaways, 2-on-1s and odd-man rushes," Fleury said. "Guys are making a big effort and coming in the neutral zone, the forwards (are) coming back and pushing the puck, helping in D-zone. Because of that we're giving up less quality chances. Definitely helps me relax."
One more thought:
We would be remiss to ignore Kevin Lankinen, who is in his second year with the Hawks. Just like Fleury, the Finn has had an up-and-down season, but seems to be trending in the right direction.
Asked about the state of his game the day after backstopping the Hawks to a 2-1 win over Nashville on Nov. 7, Lankinen said: "I'm progressing all the time. I still think I can do better. There's a lot of potential that's still kind of waiting to bloom."
The 26-year-old oozes confidence, and you can tell how badly he wants to succeed.
I'm of the belief that he should be getting at least 40% of the starts, if not more.
The best way to grow a young goalie is to get him out there.
The more they play, the more comfortable they become and the better they get.
If this season ever gets away from the Hawks, they should turn to Lankinen and do their best to trade Fleury to a contender.
Coaching staff tweaks:
The Hawks hired Rob Cookson as an assistant coach Wednesday and also named Marc Crawford associate head coach. The 60-year-old Cookson has been an NHL assistant with Calgary (2001-11) and Ottawa (2016-19). He was most recently an assistant with HC Lugano in Switzerland from December 2019 through April 2021.