Murray Falters, Penguins Fall to Canadiens 4-3

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.