SAN JOSE, CA - DECEMBER 1: Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Pittsburgh Penguins protects the net against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on December 1, 2015 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images)

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Marc-Andre Fleury is not always one of the nicest guys in the NHL. He may always seem like he’s smiling and happy, but if he lets in a bad goal, he lets his anger show.

“I still break sticks and swear when I get scored on,” Fleury said in a recent interview with Puck Daddy. “Other than that though, (being nice) is all I’ve been always. I don’t think I change because of what I do and I guess I really love the game and I have fun doing it.”

Fleury’s smile and cheery demeanor are part of his coping mechanism to deal with the difficulties of everyday life tending goal in the NHL. In some ways, Fleury’s had it tougher than teammates Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin as far as scrutiny.

When you’re playing goal in NHL there’s two outcomes for a shot. It’s either a save or a score. There’s no gray area to the common fan. And for a part in Fleury’s career the bad goals came at the worst possible moments – in the playoffs.

But he’s rebounded and turned into arguably Pittsburgh’s most consistent player the last two-and-a-half years, specifically after the lowest point of his NHL career. So far this season he has a 12-9-1 record with a 2.24 goal-against average and .926 save percentage.

“I can rarely remember on days when he lets in a bad goal and you say, ‘Gee, that’s a bad goal,’” coach Mike Johnston said. “If a goal goes in it’s an earned goal or a deflection that he probably doesn’t have a chance on. He makes the ‘A’ save when you need to, and he has been real good on special teams on shorthanded situations."

Two straight playoffs, Fleury lost his way by giving up goal after goal. Though hockey is a team game, the Penguins’ recent postseason failures mostly fell on Fleury. In 2011-12, Fleury held a 4.63 goal-against average and .834 save percentage in six games played as the Pens were trounced by the Philadelphia Flyers in the first-round. In 2012-13 he had a 3.52 GAA and .883 save percentage, losing the faith of the coaching staff who yanked him at points for veteran backup Tomas Vokoun.

This didn’t help Fleury’s rep as a player who was just good enough to win, but not the elite netminder the Penguins hoped when they picked him first overall in the loaded 2003 NHL Draft.

“I think everybody wants to play and everybody wants to win,” Fleury said. “When you’re used to being there and you’re not, it’s tough.”

After that postseason, Fleury tried to rebuild his game and his damaged psyche. He said he worked with a sports psychologist along with his goaltending coach to repair the tattered parts of how he played.

Since that summer Fleury’s progress has been highly noticeable. He went 39-18-5 the next season with a 2.37 goal-against average. He had his best playoff since Pittsburgh’s Stanley Cup run with a 2.40 goal-against average and .915 save percentage in 13 games.

Fleury was hardly to blame for the Pens’ first-round loss to the Rangers last postseason with a .927 save percentage. So far this season, Fleury ranks third in the NHL amongst starters with at least 700 minutes in 5-on-5 save percentage at .944 according to Puckalytics.

As Pittsburgh has tried to become a more defensive team under Johnston and general manager Jim Rutherford, Fleury has done his part of keeping the puck out of the net. Because of this, the talk of draft disappointment and not living up to No. 1 overall pick hype has faded.

Now you can make an argument that both Malkin and Crosby’s games are enhanced by Fleury and not the other way around.

“I think earlier it was a big deal and people talked more about it and stuff, but with time you realize it doesn’t matter if you’re picked first or in the sixth round. You still have a job to do,” Fleury said. “You see guys in the sixth-round do a good job and see guys in the first-round not make it. I think you keep working towards your goal and improve yourself every year and try to help out your team.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper