Marc-Andre Fleury discusses future, has advice for current Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry

If anyone knows what it is like to take the heat from Pittsburgh Penguins fans after disappointing playoff results in goal, it’s Marc-Andre Fleury.

With five trips to the Stanley Cup Final under his belt and three Stanley Cup rings on his fingers, Fleury has known lots of postseason success. But he’s also dealt with a lot of postseason failures.

Like in 2007, ‘08, ‘10, ‘11, ‘12, ‘13, ’14 and ‘15. And those are just the years in Pittsburgh.

Sometimes he deserved to be roasted for those postseason flops. However, many times those Penguins defeats weren’t his fault.

Yet Fleury always seemed to absorb most of the blame from the fans and some media members anyway.

As a result, he knows what current Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry is going through after a horrid playoff series against the New York Islanders. Fresh off a Vezina Trophy season with the Vegas Golden Knights, Fleury dispensed some wisdom to Jarry while appearing on the “Mark Madden Show” Friday.

“It’s hard,” Fleury said on 105.9 The X. “I’ve been there. I think you learn from those hard moments. I think you take what happened and try to learn from it.”

The Penguins don’t seem so sure. Word is the Penguins are considering multiple goaltending options for next year.

Despite the ups and downs Fleury endured during his years in Pittsburgh, it took Matt Murray winning two Stanley Cups before he was displaced. Jarry had just one postseason failure. We’ll see if he gets a chance to rebound from it as Fleury did following a five-game loss to the Ottawa Senators in his first exposure to the postseason.

“Try to improve from the areas that didn’t go as well as you wanted them to,” Fleury suggested to Jarry. “Keep working. It’s experience gained for him, and I’m sure he will be great next season.”

Despite a stellar 2021 campaign — ending in his first Vezina as the NHL’s best goalie — Fleury suffered another one of those playoff disappointments as his Golden Knights lost in the semifinals to Montreal. It was a series that turned on his Game 3 puck-handling gaffe that was every bit as tragic as Jarry’s versus the New York Islanders in Game 5 of the first round.

STEAL. SCORE.

The @NYIslanders WIN GAME 5 in DOUBLE OVERTIME! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/fEV4mJaKlO

— NHL on NBC Sports (@NHLonNBCSports) May 25, 2021

C'EST L'ÉGALITÉ!

THE EQUALIZER!#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/Ig9IIbaawP

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) June 19, 2021

Eventually, Fleury found himself benched for Robin Lehner by the end of that series, as he did for the 2020 playoffs.

So even though Fleury’s fine 2021 efforts vaulted him into third place all-time in wins, the campaign didn’t end without a sour taste similar to what Jarry had to swallow.

“Any season, any playoff, it’s never always perfect,” Fleury said. “I think it’s always trying to put the bad behind you quickly and move on and try to win the next game. That’s always where my focus is at.”

The problem for Fleury was that he was benched the next game after his error, and Jarry allowed five goals on 24 shots en route to a 5-2 elimination loss in his next start. While questions abound in Pittsburgh, Fleury is confident his new team can string together a nice playoff run again next year.

“We’re not too far away. For us, it’s tough,” Fleury said of four straight playoff seasons in the Golden Knights’ first four years of existence. “I love our group. We battle. Maybe the power play didn’t click as much (during) the last couple of rounds. Keep hacking at it. Give it our best.”

Fleury wants to continue helping Vegas find its way to a Stanley Cup. He says he has no plans to retire any time soon, claiming he wants to keep playing so long as his body holds up and so long he is having fun on the ice.

Elsewhere in the interview, Fleury discussed how he’s managed to stay in such great shape despite playing 17 years in the league. He also described his thoughts on what winning a Vezina means in terms of his career resume, why his transition to Las Vegas has been so smooth following 13 years in Pittsburgh and the prospect of eventually getting elected to the Hall of Fame.