Pittsburgh Penguins: Will Marc-Andre Fleury Determine Playoff Fate?

Sidney Crosby's future for this season is a waiting game. Whether or not he will come back will be meaningless if Penguin's goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury doesn't show up.

He has been fantastic this season posting a 35-20 record with a 2.31 goals against average. He is saving 92 percent of the shots he sees.

Fleury wasn't getting it done to start the season. In came Brent Johnson, who held the fort until Fleury found his game. The talk around town was how Fleury is overrated and how Johnson should start.

The whole thought of Johnson starting over Fleury is ridiculous beyond belief. He won a Stanley Cup and has been to two. What has Johnson done? He is a solid back-up goalie but that is it. He and Ben Roethlisberger receive more blame than anybody in the city of Pittsburgh when their teams are struggling. This shows the importance of a quarterback and a goaltender to a team.

Fleury is in contention for the Vezina Trophy for best goaltender in the league. For what he has done this season without Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and a host of others, he is undervalued. 

The offense hasn't been clicking at a high pace since Crosby went down. Without the consistent goal scoring, Fleury has been relied upon more often. He has been up to the challenge.

In the NHL Playoffs, goalies are supreme. If a goalie is "hot" a team is more likely to advance. If Crosby doesn't return, the pressure will be on Fleury more than ever.

If Crosby does come back, Fleury cannot relax and think that the offense will come. He will still need to be dominant if the Penguins want to return to the Stanley Cup.

The Penguins have been through everything you could imagine this season but have stayed together. Dan Bylsma deserves most of the credit, but Fleury has been the most important piece to the puzzle.

Whether or not Crosby comes back will be meaningless if Fleury doesn't show up. The pressure will be on. Can Fleury get it done? Only time will tell.