Shea-ved Ice: 3 Stars Of The Week
In honor of Marc-Andre Fleury being named the NHL's second overall star this week, here's the first installment of the Penguins' three stars of the week.
After crunching the numbers in my lab, here's my top three Penguins from the last week.
#1 – Marc-Andre Fleury
Fleury is on fire right now. He's currently riding an 11-game winning streak, which is the longest of his career. During the streak, he's posted a .945 save percentage. This past week alone, he knocked off the New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres by stopping 84 of the 89 shots he faced.
According to the Penguins' official website, Fleury posted a 1.67 GAA and .944 save percentage this week.
It's times like this that make me wonder how many "Trade Fleury" letters General Manager Ray Shero is getting now.
Fleury was a major reason the Penguins were able to extend their streak to 12 straight wins on Saturday. He made 34 saves in the game and helped the Pens withstand a barrage of 26 shots through the first two periods.
#2 – Sidney Crosby
With three goals and two assists, Crosby extended his point streak to 18 games. Crosby made a highlight-reel pass to Chris Kunitz for the Penguins' first goal against the Devils in a 2-1 win.
Against the Maple Leafs, Crosby potted his 25th and 26th goals of the year to reach the 50-point plateau in only 30 games.
In addition to the 20 goals and 16 assists he's amassed during his personal streak, Crosby is plus-16.
The numbers he's putting up and the way he's getting those points are mind-boggling. When was the last time you saw someone on a different level for this long? Even Wayne Gretzky spoke about Crosby this week and said he hasn't seen him play better.
#3 – Chris Kunitz
Kunitz equaled Crosby's point total for the week with one goal and four assists. Kunitz scored the first goal against the Devils and helped set up Crosby for the eventual game-winning goal.
While he was held off the scoresheet against the Sabres on Saturday, Kunitz was a big reason the Pens jumped out to a 4-0 lead during a 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs.
Kunitz set up three of the first four Pittsburgh goals to put the game out of reach.
He now has points in four of his last five games and is plus-8 in the month of December.
Honorable Mention – Zbynek Michalek
While he only got credit for blocking 10 shots in the past three games, it sure seems like the statisticians missed a few.
It's not just about the shot blocking with Michalek though. He's becoming the shutdown defenseman the Pens were desperately missing during last year's playoff run.
When the Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2009, Rob Scuderi played a vital role in shutting down the opposition's top players and he had Hal Gill as a partner. This series of saves will live on in Penguins lore forever.
Say what you want about Gill being a big guy with a long reach and such, his one weakness was exploited more often than not: slowness of foot.
Even on the final play of Game 7 against Detroit, Gill somehow was out of position, but that's not the point.
There's a sense of calm whenever Michalek is in the spotlight in the defensive end. A prime example was how he broke up a 3-on-1 against the Sabres on Saturday.
By timing his dive at the right moment, he was able to squash the scoring chance. With the offensive production of guys like Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski, Michalek isn't being pressured to get on the scoresheet.
He's only being relied on to keep other guys off of it.
Check back for more stars of the week next week, and you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CaseySheaPens
