The value of a goaltender’s puckhandling seems overrated in the NHL, and horribly so. It provides value but gets goalies in a lot of jams.

Tristan Jarry’s puckhandling was supposed be a strength. But we all remember how Game 5 against the New York Islanders turned out.

Tom Barrasso’s puckhandling saved Penguins defensemen plenty of steps from 1988-2000. But he got the team in trouble a lot, too. (That was a different time and an explosive team. If Barrasso screwed up, the Penguins just scored more. He had 31 assists for Pittsburgh.)

Puckhandling gaffes have produced two huge moments in Marc-Andre Fleury’s career.

One cost Canada the World Junior Championship in 2004. The other gifted Montreal’s Josh Anderson a tying goal at 18 minutes, 5 seconds of the third period in Game 3 between Vegas and the Canadiens on Friday night. Montreal won 3-2 in overtime.

Fleury was benched in favor of Robin Lehner for Sunday’s Game 4. Vegas won 2-1 in overtime. The series is tied at two games apiece.

Sadly, Fleury’s mistakes will help define his career, just like his save on Nicklas Lidstrom that ended Game 7 and won the Stanley Cup at Detroit in 2009.

If you look at goaltenders’ puckhandling in the long term, risk may not equal reward.

The best puckhandling goalie of all-time was New Jersey Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur.

But Brodeur was the best shot-stopper, too. That job comes first.

Between Brodeur’s stick skills, his save-making and New Jersey’s overwhelming defensive nous during Brodeur’s tenure, it’s easy to forget how boring the Devils were. That’s because it’s easy to forget everything about those Devils, their three Stanley Cups duly noted.

It was a classic case of efficiency over entertainment. But a team that has its victory parades in a parking lot has little to risk in that regard. As Gertrude Stein might say, there is no there there.

Fleury’s latest mistake has inflamed debate over his time in Pittsburgh yet again.

Fleury has polarized the Penguins’ fan base like no other player. Each faction lurks until he plays poorly or well, then jumps out of the shadows to call him a “choke artist” or proclaim that then-GM Jim Rutherford should have kept him instead of Matt Murray in 2017.

Fleury is doubtless prone to the occasional mind-numbing error. His stop against Lidstrom in 2009 is a microcosm of his career: A wondrous stop preceded by spilling a juicy rebound.

But Fleury is a Hall of Famer. If Vegas wins the series with Montreal, it’s like Friday night’s error never happened. (Unless Fleury doesn’t play again in these playoffs.)

For a fan base that’s enjoyed five Stanley Cups, Penguins supporters too often look back in anger.

Rene Robert was a member of Buffalo’s famed “French Connection” line in the ’70s. When Robert suffered a heart attack last week, a few Penguins fans on Twitter pointed out Robert’s brief tenure in Pittsburgh (49 games) and ranted that the March 4, 1972, trade that sent Robert to Buffalo for winger Eddie Shack was “one of the worst trades in NHL history.”

Imagine hyperventilating over a trade made almost 50 years ago. Then-GM Jack Riley — a great man — passed away in 2016. Too bad he is not still alive to berate.

Robert racked up 552 points in 524 games with Buffalo. Shack had 59 points in 87 games with the Penguins.

But, after being acquired near the end of the 1971-72 season, Shack had 14 points in 13 games and helped the Penguins sneak into the playoffs on the season’s last day.

The Penguins got swept by Chicago in the first round. But back then, the revenue from those two home playoff games meant financial survival, or close to it.

The Penguins didn’t have Gilbert Perreault or Richard Martin. Robert might not have prospered as well in Pittsburgh.

Anyway, lighten up. Buffalo has been in the NHL since 1970 and never has won the Cup. You got five. Quit complaining.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)