Penguins Update: The Matt Murray Conundrum

Conundrum. Merriam-Webster defines it as an intricate or difficult problem. An apt word, I thought, to describe the Penguins’ present predicament with goaltender Matt Murray.

I’m sure coach Mike Sullivan would love to get his erstwhile No. 1 goalie some starts to boost his sagging confidence. But therein lies the rub. When Murray plays, pucks get behind him. At an alarming rate. Just like last night during a lackluster 4-1 loss to Vancouver, for instance. The Thunder Bay native yielded those four goals while facing only 14 shots on goal.

For those of you who aren’t good at math, that’s a .714 save percentage. Matching his numbers against the Canucks back on November 27, when he was yanked like an aching tooth in favor of Tristan Jarry.

Mind you, I’m not pinning last night’s loss entirely on Murray. He had help. The Pens appeared sluggish, as might be expected playing on back-to-back nights while wrapping up a pre-holiday swing through Western Canada. Hell and Dominik Simon (more on him later) conspired to put us two-men short for what seemed like the entire back half of the first period. There’s only so much 5-on-3 you can kill.

Still, Jake Guentzel knocked in a power-play goal from the doorstep at 15:28 of the second period to pull us to within 2-1. Our guys were still very much in the game. That is, until Murray yielded the back-breaker to Elias Pettersson 44 seconds later on an eminently stoppable wrister. From that point on, it was pretty much game, set and match Canucks.

Again, when Murray plays, pucks go in…often at the worst possible times.

Since being pulled against Boston on November 4, the former Cup hero’s posted a bloated goals against average of 3.71 over his past 11 games, to go with an .854 save percentage. Positively sieve-like. His overall quality starts percentage? A shockingly poor .409.

During that same stretch, Jarry’s goals against (1.82) and save percentage (.939) are exemplary. His record, 10-3 versus Murray’s 3-3-3.

Talk about two goalies trending in opposite directions! Small wonder Jarry has snatched the goaltending reins from his more heralded counterpart…and shows no signs of handing them back.

Which brings me to the second part of the conundrum. What to do with Murray?

He’s in the final season of a cap-friendly three-year-deal that pays him $3.75 million per season. I sure don’t want to sign this guy to a long-term deal for big money. If anything, it may be time to consider moving him. Toronto’s rumored to be in the hunt for a goalie.

I guess time will tell how the Murray saga plays out. For now, it’s hard to see him regaining his old form. Or his starting job.

While We’re Talking Conundrums…

…I’ll toss out two words. Dominik Simon.

If ever there was a poster child for the gap between metrics and tangible contributions, it’s the Czech forward.

Not being a metrics maven, I won’t delve too deep. But No. 12 currently has a Corsi for of 56.8 percent. Outstanding…fifth-best on the team behind some very notable guys (Sidney Crosby, Brian Dumoulin, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin). For his career, it’s 55.7. Again, very impressive.

It basically means Simon’s on the ice for a lot more shot attempts for than against. Hinting that he helps drive offense while playing well defensively.

And that’s where the gap between perception and reality…or more accurately…metrics and production occurs. A pronounced one at that.

Simon simply doesn’t contribute on the score sheet. He has two goals in 36 games, and that’s with spending considerable time on a line with Crosby and Guentzel, a practice that mercifully halted with Sid’s injury.

With nary a point, Simon’s completely dried up during the Pens’ recent 7-2 hot streak. Oh, and he’s a minus-4 over that span. A minus-10 since the beginning of November (with four measly assists).

So much for his defensive prowess.

As for my eye test? Simon has some hockey smarts, skates well and does a good job of cycling once the puck gets down low. He’s crafty, generally handles the puck well in traffic, and has some subtle skills. When he’s on the ice with highly skilled players, he can be an effective complimentary player.

Having written that, his shots never seem to get through to the net, let alone contribute to a scoring play. Ditto his passes, as evidenced by his paltry assist total over the past two months. Nor does he have a knack for finding the seams, a necessary trait to produce in today’s NHL.

Should the Pens stick with Simon? Or should they give someone else a try…say Adam Johnson. For the record, the latter possesses blazing speed and presently has 16 points in 16 games with the Baby Pens, including three goals.

He could hardly score less than Simon.