NHL: Will Bylsma divert from goaltending plan?

Bylsma won’t commit to goaltending rotation past Friday

The plan coming into the regular season was for Marc Andre Fleury to play 8 of the first 11 games, according to head coach Dan Bylsma a few weeks ago.

Is that plan now in jeopardy?

Bylsma has become very frustrated with starting goaltender Marc Andre Fleury (0-3, 3.41 GAA, .853 SV %) who is off to a poor start and the Penguins head coach would not commit to Fleury playing Saturday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Question: What’s your plan for the goaltenders this weekend?

Bylsma: “Brent’s playing tomorrow”

Question: You haven’t planned ahead after that?

Bylsma: “Brent’s playing tomorrow, ” Bylsma repeated even before the reporter finished his question.

Johnson turned away 30 shots in Monday’s 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils and will get the start Friday night against the New York Islanders.

How Bylsma handles Fleury over the next week or two will be an interesting dynamic to watch.

Even if Johnson has another strong performance Friday night, it’s hard to imagine Bylsma starting him on back-to-back nights.

The key game will be Monday night against the Ottawa Senators when the Penguins return home. If Johnson outperforms Fleury this weekend, Bylsma won’t be shy about diverting his plan and going to Johnson Monday night against Ottawa.