Oh no.
Those were my exact thoughts as I watched Game Three of the Penguins’ preliminary round series unfold on the big screen TV at Wright’s Gym last night.
The object of my concern?
Pens goalie Matt Murray.
In stark contrast to his stellar form in Game Two, he was deep in his net from the opening draw and going down early on shots. In a word, he looked shaky.
Maybe he’ll settle down, I thought. All the while trying to convince myself that I wasn’t seeing what I was seeing. After all, Murray had turned in a terrific effort during the Pens’ Game Two triumph and looked calm, cool and collected doing it.
My hopes were dashed just past the four-minute mark, when Murray was torched on a third-chance opportunity by Shea Weber, setting the tone for an unsettling evening.
It was readily apparent we weren’t getting Matt Murray vintage 2016-17. Rather, we were getting Murray vintage 2019-20. Big difference. Unlike a fine wine, the Thunder Bay native hasn’t gotten better with age.
Even when our guys clawed back to snatch a 2-1 lead courtesy of power-play goals by Patric Hornqvist and Jason Zucker, I still felt trepidation. I shared my anxieties with a couple of gym members who’d stopped by the front desk to check on the score.
I began to voice my concerns. “Murray’s too deep in his net. He’s going down too early. And when he does, he isn’t athletic enough to recover.”
“Don’t forget the glove hand,” one of them piped in.
Still, when Teddy Blueger struck early in the second period for a grimy goal to stake us to a 3-1 lead, I began to relax. I even thought we might break the game open against Habs netminder Carey Price, a rare occurrence indeed. Well, a goalie got victimized all right. Unfortunately the one wearing black and gold.
Midway through the period the tide began to turn. Already down in his butterfly, Murray reacted slowly to a shot-pass from Ben Chariot, leading to an easy net-side deflection by Jonathan Drouin.
Suddenly our lead was down to one. I began to squirm…with good reason. Six minutes later Paul Byron knotted the score at 3-3 on a wraparound goal. Again Murray was slow to react, failing to cover the post with his left pad.
All the while Pens color announcer Bob Errey was chirping about what a quality goaltender he is.
Please.
By now I’m sweatin’ bullets. I know Murray’s going to leak for another goal and I know we’re going to lose this game. Sure enough, just past the five-minute mark of the final frame, Jeff Petry smokes him with a sharp-angle shot. And pfft…just like that our lead is gone and the Pens are facing an uphill climb.
Unlike his counterpart, Price wasn’t about to squander a second-chance opportunity. Game, set and match.
One can only imagine the frustration Murray’s teammates feel. They worked their collective butts off to turn an early one-goal deficit into a seemingly secure 3-1 lead, only to watch their goalie fritter it away.
If anything, the juxtaposition of Murray’s wildly divergent efforts underscores just how much he’s regressed from the Cup seasons. He’s literally a shell of his former self.
Looking ahead, I pray Mike Sullivan gives Tristan Jarry the starting nod on Friday. But I already know how this will go. “Matt’s my guy,” Sully will say, or something like that.
Murray will start. At some crucial juncture, he’ll give up a goal that you don’t want to give up and the Pens will lose. Just like they have in eight of his past nine playoff starts.
If I’ve never written this before, I’ll write it now.
Matt Murray stinks.
Puckpourri
The rest of the team didn’t exactly bathe themselves in glory. The troublesome third defensive pair was a collective minus-5. Jack Johnson was minus-3, tying Patrick Marleau for the game-worst mark.
Blueger and Brandon Tanev were the only Pens to finish with a plus. Blueger’s goal, his first ever in playoff competition, snapped a 13-game goalless skein dating back to February 18.
Jake Guentzel registered a game-high seven shots on goal but was held without a point. Evgeni Malkin picked up his first point of the series with a beautiful pass to Hornqvist, but finished a minus-2 for the evening.
Sam Lafferty replaced Jared McCann, a surprise healthy scratch. The rookie forward registered four hits, including a thunderous check on Chariot, in 7:40 of ice time.
Game Four is slated for 4 p.m. on Friday.
Hey Rick,
While I’m not sure Murray stinks, he ain’t a number one goalie.
This was a rinse, repeat loss for me, with plenty of blame to go around. We’ve seen this countless times with this team trying to sit on a lead. They get up a couple and suddenly they sit back, stop going to the net, stop hitting, which they don’t do enough of to begin with, and in general they stop skating with any purpose. I might not mind so much if they played the trap with a lead but they can’t even be bothered to do that.
They could win the next two if they skated as if they meant it but I don’t see that happening. Gotta go to the net for 60 minutes if you want to beat Price and this team has a difficult enough time going to the net for 20 minutes.
We’ll see if any changes are made but I won’t be surprised if the same cast of characters takes the ice tomorrow. It’s Sully’s way or the highway.
Do you think perhaps Jarry has found the key to Sully’s dog house? That wouldn’t surprise me either.
— 55
Hello 55 and welcome back to the blog! So good to hear from you and read what you have to say. Spot-on as usual.
I confess, perhaps I was a tad harsh in my pronouncement about Murray. It’s just that I’ve seen this scenario play out so many times over the past couple of seasons and it’s maddening. The Pens have a lead. Then Murray leaks for an untimely goal (or two) and the momentum audibly shifts.
To be fair, he had plenty of help last night, which in my raging frustration and utter disgust I neglected to mention. The Johnson-Schultz pairing is setting new standards for astonishing ineptitude. My goodness…what a disastrous combination.
To digress, what in the wide, wide world of sports has happened to Schultz? So good during the Cup seasons.
Also agree that getting a full 60-minute effort out of these guys on a nightly basis is like trying to coax a pack mule into running the Kentucky Derby.
Back to Murray. I mentioned to PensFanBoy17 that I think he might still be an effective goalie, provided he plays for a team like the Islanders that insulates him and plays a structured style. Obviously that’s not the Pens’ M.O.
Anyway…yada yada yada. It’s not like we’re going to win the Cup.
Other than our Pens tanking, I hope all is well.
Rick
PS–I don’t know if Jarry is in Sully’s doghouse (he does have a colorful personality and it wouldn’t shock me). But there’s no question our coach is a Murray guy. I think, to the team’s detriment.
Hey 55,
I don’t believe Murray stinks. At the same time, I don’t believe he is a #1 goalie. His ability to control rebounds and stop a puck and hold on to it are third rate. His ability to cover angles is some rate worse than third rate, pick a rate. Murray has lost 8 of the last 9 playoff games he has played in. That being said, if Sullivan starts Murray tomorrow at 4pm and if the Penguins lose and if Rutherford tosses Sullivan to the curb, then he has nobody to blame but himself. I’m just going to say it one more time, Murray has lost 8 of his last 9 playoff games. Sullivan’s options are, bench him or go down on the sinking S.S. Murray.
Hey Phil and 55,
A final thought. Last night I was listening to the sports segment on KDKA and they had a hockey guru on commenting about the Pens (wish I knew who it was…my back was turned to the TV).
When asked about Murray, this guy didn’t mince words. “I don’t trust him,” he said.
And I think that pretty much hits the nail on the head as far as how I feel. Unless Murray’s on his game…an increasingly rare occurrence these days…I don’t trust him. No lead is ever safe. Watching him the other night, I knew we were going to lose that game (and told my boss as much)…even when we had the lead. You could just feel it and sense it by the way he was moving and reacting.
From what I gather, Jarry outplayed Murray during the Pens’ scrimmages. Yet we’re stuck with the former because he’s Sullivan’s guy.
I just pray Sully has the nerve (and good sense) to get over his bias and switch. Our playoff lives could depend on it.
Rick
Rick,
Puh leeze! Murray was a large contributor to last nights loss but get over it. There was tons of blame.
On the first goal not only did the Habs get behind the D, there were 3 count them 3 Habs behind Penguins defenders – a sea of red – that is why there were so many rebounds, nobody around to clear the puck.
On the 2nd goal, Schultz just lets Druoin behind him and doesn’t even take the stick away.
Yes, Goal 3 was on Murray. I have no idea what he was thinking when he was going to the right while the puck was swinging to his left.
Goal 4 was also on him, but Buckley shares blame on that. If you recall at one point during the season during one of the games (I wish I remember who said it on one of the telecasts post Penguins extra pieces) Bales teaches both Murray and Jarry to crouch that low, leaving their short side top corner open.
They say a dying animal bites its own wounds
Interestingly enough Rick Kingarski blames Johnson, Marleau, Schultz and Murray for Goal 1 – I give Murray a pass when there are that many players around you and they get 3 cracks at you with no defenders. Kingarski says the rebound was too far, but no I dispute that the initial rebound does not matter when when no defenders get there to help out and your opponent gets 2 more cracks with no defenders in sight.
On Goal 2 He blames Schultz and Malkin
On Goal 3 Kingarski gives a pass – I don’t. Kngarski blames Marino and Guentzel.
On Goal 4 he and I agree that Murray was at fault, but as I said, some talking head on the TV broadcast came out saying that it was Buckley that teaches both he and Jarry to hug the post that way when people complained during the regular season that both Murray and Jarry give up that shot.
Just thought I would throw that out there.
Rick,
I had the same feelings . My line to my sons is “never underestimate Murray’s ability to give up a soft goal to put the other team right back into the game”.
I get tired of hearing how spectacular Murray is on any particular save….It’s like hearing how great a pitchers pitches are when they strike out 10 batters but give up home runs and walks…… Its’ the totality of the effort that matters. Consistency counts.
My fear is that they go into Game 4 and Murray lets in a couple quick goals before they hand it over to Jarri. Based on the past, even if Jarri stands on his head and they manage to claw back an somehow win game 4……. Sullivan will still be itchin’ to put his man Matt back between the pipes.
On a bright note, the game was the most watchable from a flow perspective and Lafferty definitely deserves to continue playing. They got to get Price moving side to side more and tip ins or redirections are a must. He’s too good to think we’ll score from a direct shot. Unlike Murray,
he rarely gives up meaningful rebounds
Hey PensFanBoy 17,
Great to hear from you and I’m glad we agree.
I just noticed from the get-go that Murray was back in his net and making himself small. Baffling, given that he’d played really well and with such confidence the game before.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. He gives up goals…momentum crushing goals…at really bad times. Whatever he had during the Cup years he doesn’t have now…at least not on a consistent basis.
Funny, but I had the same thought about Price while watching the Pens trying to score the equalizer. He just doesn’t give up rebounds. Murray on the other hand? He really struggles with his rebound control, and that used to be one of his strengths. Part of the reason his game has deteriorated.
It contributes to scrambles and the overall chaotic feel when he’s in goal, and Murray lacks the athleticism to deal with chaos. Especially when he’s down in his butterfly.
I consider him a first-shot goalie, as in he’ll stop the first shot. But after that things get dicey.
He may still be an effective goalie for a team like the Islanders, who play a structured style. But on a team like the Pens where things are a bit more fast and loose, I just don’t think he’s the answer.
I think the more athletic Jarry is better suited for our game. He moves better, handles the puck better, and may even bring the swagger that Murray seems to have lost somewhere along the line.
Although it might be a bit of a gamble given that he’s little game action of late, I turn to Jarry in Game Four. At this stage, I’d rather lose with him instead of Murray if that makes any sense. And his presence just may provide the spark and kick in the pants our guys need.
Rick