Time to Panic?

Well, the first month of the season hasn't been quite what Marc-Andre Fleury had been hoping for. In the six games he's played, he's had just one win, with a save percentage of .863 and a pretty high goals against average value of 3.35. Meanwhile, "backup" goaltended Brent Johnson is 5-0-1 with a save percentage of 0.960 and a goals against average value of 1.16 - tiny by comparison. Is it time for Pittsburgh to panic?

Let's be serious, all players can have bad stretches, its just that none are as noticeable as a goalie's. Have you noticed all the other craziness going on around the league right now? Let's see here...

Ilya Kovalchuk - The $100 million dollar man has played in 11 games, getting 6 points (3 G, 3A) and a -4 rating. 6 points in 11 games is nothing to sniff at but not for one of the most sought after free agents who finally settled for just $100 million (and cost the team both a $3 million fine and some top draft picks because of the rejection of his initial contract). Meanwhile, the team has already played 12 games. Why did Kovalchuk miss one goal? Oh right, he was a healthy scratch (reportedly a punishment for constantly being late to practice).

Martin Brodeur - The three time Stanley cup winner, two time Olympic Gold medalist for Canada, four-time Vezina Trophy winner, ten-time NHL all-star and Calder Memorial Trophy winner, has played in 11 games, with only 3 wins and 1 overtime loss, along with 7 losses, putting his New Jersey Devils in last place in the Eastern Conference... oh right, and last place in the entire league. Now, a goalie isnt responsible for carrying the entire team so the losses can't be blamed solely on him, but he obviously is in a slump period and like I said before, you notice a goalie's slump first and foremost.

Roberto Luongo - Bobby Lou completes the trifecta of Vancouver Canadian Olympian hockey goalies that are making the fans squeamish. Luongo stepped down as captain prior to the start of the season, in order to focus solely on hockey and stay in the goalie mindset. I think it was a good move on his part but it hasn't necessarily showed in his stats thus far - He's played in 6 games - 2 wins, 3 losses and 2 overtime losses, with a save percentage of .907% and a GAA of 2.93. Meanwhile, backup goalie Cory Schnieder is 2-0-0, with way prettier stats (save percetage .968% and GAA of 0.68).

Meanwhile, Shane Doan - a fourteen year NHL vetran - got his first suspension of his career; Taylor Hall, the highly touted first round draft pick of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, didn't get his first NHL goal until his *GASP* 7th game!; the Toronto Maple Leafs won their first four straight games in a row...

Get the picture? Nothing has been quite right so far this season and things will settle down soon. The three goalies will bounce back, Kovalchuk will... well, we'll see.... and the Leafs? Oh, they're winning the President's Trophy. Sorry, what? They were shut out two games in a row? Not sure what you're talking about, gotta run.

So should the less dedicated Penguins fan panic (I say less dedicated because the Pittsburgh faithful know their team and aren't just going to throw Flower to the wolves)?

Take a bit of Carey Price's advice. What's wrong with Flower? Nothing.