Pittsburgh Penguins Head Coach Dan Bylsma Wisely Turns Back to Marc-Andre Fleury

For Pittsburgh Penguins fans, there's a lot to like about goaltender Brent Johnson.

Now in his 11th NHL season, the Farmington, Michigan native has failed to post at least a .900 save percentage only once, in 2006-07 with the Washington Capitals. That same campaign was also the only time Johnson registered a goals-against average over 3.00.

In addition to his consistent play over the past decade-plus, by all accounts Johnson brings an amiable personality to the Penguins locker room. And from a fan's perspective, his Led Zeppelin-themed masks lend insight and color to a man who plays a position shrouded by dehumanizing body armor.

But despite all these attributes, tangible and intangible, perhaps the thing that makes Johnson most valuable is his role with the Penguins: backup.

That secondary position was reaffirmed Thursday night in Nashville, as Pittsburgh head coach Dan Bylsma re-inserted former first-overall draft pick and Stanley Cup champion Marc-Andre Fleury between the red pipes. The Penguins (5-3-0, 10 points), led by superlative efforts from twin stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, picked up a 4-3 overtime win to remain undefeated on the road (3-0-0) on the young season.

While the result was certainly well-earned, extending the Penguins' winning streak to four after an unsettling 1-3-0 start, it could be argued the most significant development of the evening at Bridgestone Arena was Fleury's finding a way to pick up his first win of the season.

Sure, there were moments of trepidation, most notably when Nashville's David Legwand tallied less than a minute into the contest, conjuring memories of Fleury's uneven play in his first three starts, all losses. In addition, Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis helped prevent Fleury's fourth defeat in as many games by sweeping a loose puck out of the crease in overtime, a timely play soon followed by defenseman Kris Letang's sudden-death marker.

Aside from those anxious moments, though, Fleury held his composure well in an up-and-down game that featured all the intensity of March or April. All three Nashville goals could be attributed to either defensive breakdowns by Pittsburgh (Legwand's goal) and/or sharp Nashville finishing (Patrick Hornqvist's third-period snipe).

The fact that Fleury saw action for the first time in eight days brought controversy among uneasy Penguins followers after the fifth-year starter suffered three consecutive one-goal losses. Johnson's subsequent run of strong play and his perfect 4-0-0 record attracted more attention than usual to Bylsma's decision to turn back to one of the franchise's building blocks.

However, Bylsma couldn't reasonably hold Fleury out for much longer, no matter how well Johnson continued to perform. While the 25-year-old Fleury admittedly turned in a sub-par 2009-10 season, Johnson hasn't made more than 30 appearances since 2002-03 and has only started the majority of his team's games once, in 2001-02 with St. Louis.

Since the lockout, the 33-year-old Johnson has largely served a backup role with playoff contenders Washington (three seasons) and Pittsburgh. Since injuries have kept him off the ice for significant time throughout his career, Johnson's track record suggests that he is physically unable to handle a larger workload than the 24 games he's averaged the last five seasons.

So as the expected equilibrium returns to the Penguins' two-man goaltending tandem, Johnson will continue to a be a valuable asset as Pittsburgh looks to return to recently attained heights. Give credit to coach Bylsma for not being overly swayed by small sample sizes and trying to restore rationality to the Penguins' crease.

To reiterate, it's Fleury and Johnson, in that order.