I confess. I’m beginning to run out of superlatives to describe our Penguins. Once again battling long odds and an injury-riddled lineup featuring more holes than a hunk of Swiss cheese, our guys showed tons of moxie in turning back the Colorado Avalanche, 4-3, at the Pepsi Center last night.
Again, it was a total team effort. Teddy Blueger, Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin each registered a goal and an assist. Jared McCann notched the overtime-winner for the black and gold. Rookie sensation John Marino picked up two assists while Dominik Kahun, flourishing in an expanded role, collected three assists and was a plus-three on the night. The fact that the Czech-born winger was somehow passed over for one of the game’s three stars doesn’t diminish his impact in the least.
What a steal this kid was and is.
Oh, and at the other end of the ice Matt Murray turned aside 28 of 31 shots to earn his third victory in his past four starts. Which, with all due respect to the rest of the guys, leads me to the real point of my post.
I’m not going to mince words. I’m a Tristan Jarry guy. Without his exceptional play in net, we’d be well back in the pack, scratching and clawing for a wild-card spot, instead of sitting comparatively pretty in second place in the ultra-tough Metro. For the record…and coach Mike Sullivan’s eyes…Tristan still leads the league in goals against average, save percentage and shutouts. He’s an all-star to boot.
Why am I going to such great lengths to sing Jarry’s praises? Fear. Fear that Sullivan will once again fall into his unfortunate habit of playing favorites. In this case, Murray.
I do understand the connection. Murray won two Cups for him. He was Sully’s guy…even when the experts clamored for Marc-Andre Fleury. How could there not be an attachment?
Yet I got a terrible twisting in my guts the other night when Sullivan went out of his way to compliment Murray following our recent victory over Montreal. “I thought Matt was outstanding…” Sully opined.
Uh oh.
To borrow from the kitschy ’60s Sci-Fi classic Lost in Space…“Danger, Will Robinson.”
To be fair, Murray has played better of late. Although his 2.93 goals against average is nothing to write home about, he’s stopped 98 of 107 shots over his past three starts for a respectable .916 save percentage. Not dazzling, but solid.
And I do grasp the need to work Murray into the rotation…to an extent. You don’t want him lacking confidence and/or rotting away on the bench. A bad situation for everyone.
Switching gears, I thought his performance last night was pretty much a microcosm of who Murray is as a goalie. Kind of the good, the bad and the ugly all rolled into one.
Did he play moderately well…good enough to keep his team in the game? Yes. As I mentioned, he made 28 saves. And he did stop a streaking Nathan MacKinnon from point-blank range early in the game. I confess I found the title of the highlight clip on NHL.com…“Murray makes save”…wholly appropriate, as if it were some sort of special event or occurrence.
Did the Thunder Bay native shut down the opposition or steal a win? Nope. Never does. Instead, he spotted the Avalanche leads of 1-0 and 2-1 and forced his team to play catch up on the road with a depleted lineup.
Did he continue to yield cheesy goals at critical junctures? Yes. He allowed the game-opening goal to MacKinnon because he isn’t athletic enough to traverse the crease and seal off the far post once he settles into his crouch. The puck either hits him or it goes in.
After the Pens fought back to tie the game, he leaked the go-ahead goal late in the second period on a long-range mudskipper from Gabriel Landeskog. A terrible goal to allow.
Then, after Malkin staked the Pens to their first lead of the night, Murray surrendered his patented game-tying goal in the final minute of play to send the game to overtime.
Okay, I’ll absolve him of blame on this one. The Avs were skating with a 6-on-4 advantage and the puck appeared at the last second through a sea of traffic. Superman himself with his x-ray vision couldn’t have tracked that shot.
Still. Another puck gets past him late in a game. An all-too-familiar pattern.
It was only by the grace of God that Andre Burakovsky and Cale Makar conspired to flub a 2-on-0 from the doorstep in overtime, allowing Brandon Tanev to swoop in and steal the puck. In the process sparing Murray from having to make a single save in overtime and setting the stage for McCann’s game-winner moments later.
I’ll close with a few parting thoughts. As I watched replays of the game from my perch at the Pennsbury Pub & Grille, a friend posed an interesting question.
“Do you think Murray peaked when he first came up?”
“Yes,” I replied.
As for the issue of who should be the Pens’ starter, Jarry or Murray? Let me put it this way. Of the two goalies, who is more athletic and mobile? Who’s cooler under fire? Who handles the puck better? Who has a better glove hand?
If you answered Jarry to all four questions, you’re correct.
Hope Mike Sullivan is reading.
Hey Rick,
I won’t mince words. I like Murray, but I am a Penguin guy. If Jarry out plays Murray and Murray is exposed to the expansion draft as Fleury was last expansion, so be it. The Penguins come first.
However, sorry to disillusion you but the first goal was by no means soft. I understand you never stood before frozen, vulcanized rubber in the fluid mayhem of a hockey tilt so your assessment, though erroneous, is understandable, but reality check here, the only way that shot is stopped is if a goalie has been reduced to guessing and guesses right. The Goalie has to come up to the top of his crease and challenge if there is a point shot and in no human being could the neural transmission of afferent impulses run the length of the optic nerve to brain, interpret the information that the body has to move to the right, and then to the Cerebellum to execute a motor program down the cerebro-spinal track to the all of the appropriate neuromuscular junctions to fire muscle contracts to cause a goalie to move across the crease to cover MacKinnon’s shot. To make that save, the goalie would have to guess and exacute said motor program before Girard makes the pass. That is basic neuro-physiology. Like it or not transmissions are not instantaneous. And you of all people, you know that I know of which I speak.
The only goal you can complain in last nights game was the Landeskog goal and even that was more a question of puck luck, like shortstop trying to play a short hop.
I understand you like smaller reaction goalies, but the reality is Colorado, a team with true snipers on it had multiple High Danger (15 in all) chances, often in alone behind the Defense and Murray stoned all but a freak goal, a PPG, and a 6 on 5 goal (Rust was out of the box and the teams were at even strength)
I am not saying Murray should be given the undisputed No 1 spot. I am enjoying Jarry’s current success. I am saying, stop whining about Murray and enjoy Jarry – Murray, they may be the Pens best hope so long as Letang and Johnson are together.
Hey Other Rick,
I’m not whining about Murray. I’m stating facts as I see it. No matter how you personally try to sugar coat it with your high-danger yada yada…he gives up goals at really bad times as I’ve documented in previous posts. And he never, ever, shuts the other team down. He always gives them life…often late in periods and at the worst possible times.
With their depleted lineup, the last thing the Pens need right now is to be in a dogfight in every single game. And they most assuredly would be if Murray regains the bulk of the playing time.
He did some extraordinary things when he first came up. Right now, I think he’s a very ordinary goalie…at best. And substandard at crunch time.
Since you’re so fond of stats, here’s a few more to chew on. Murray’s 58th in save percentage. He’s 33rd in goals against average playing on a team that’s tied for fourth in the league in fewest goals allowed. His quality starts percentage…a hideous .440.
He doesn’t deserve the starting nod over Jarry…period. Something I fear he’ll get simply because he’s one of Sullivan’s pets.
Rick
PS-While you’re spouting off about high-danger chances, did it ever occur to you that he’s part of that equation? He doesn’t catch the puck well, doesn’t control rebounds well, doesn’t handle the puck well, and when he goes down in his butterfly crouch you might as well attach an anchor to him.
Sorry Rick,
But your impressions are skewed. I am sorry that objective data doesn’t match with your subjective prejudices. The only Goal you could possibly attack Murray on last night was the Landeskog Goal. It appeared he was a touch indecisive, possibly due to too many people attacking him in the media and trying to cause a controversy where none should exist.
When he first came up, all the superlatives heaved on Jarry were said about Murray; he was calm cool and collected. He never had a good poke check, that was Fleury’s thing, but he did play the puck better, getting it to his D, maybe not as good as Jarry, but better than he has.
He never got flustered or allowed things to bother him, perhaps because the expectations on him were not all that high and the vitriol that you and others heap on him was directed at Fleury.
What does our friend Dorian constantly remind us about our words. I watch the media sink the Thrashers while down in Atl. Fortunately I am a Pittsburgher and never really cared that much about the Thrashers other than they could attract my Penguins every so often to come and play in their backyard.
As I wrote, I am not suggesting that the Penguins change out goalies and put Murray in. Nor am I defending Murray’s play from late Nov thru Dec. I have not ever suggested that nose dive was defensible. In fact, all I have ever said is that it happens, all goalies go through ups and downs. Your boy, the boy you defend so valiantly only got to play 2 games last year and stunk, his Sv% was 0.898, even though he only faced 6 HD shots.
What I am writing is your assessment of last night’s game and Murray are way, way off base and colored by your biases. The defense had some break downs, but the Goaltending saved the day. Without Murray between the posts last night, the Pens may not have won.
Stats for you to chew on. Since hockey is a what have you done for me lately game; over the last 8 games
Jarry – GP 5, Sv% 0.922, GAA 2.50, GSAA -0.35 (5 on 5)
SV% 0.918, GAA 2.52, GSAA 0.12 (All Strengths)
Murray GP 3, Sv% 0.929, GAA 2.42 GSAA 0.35 (5 on 5)
Sv% 0.912, GAA 2.92, GSAA -0.12 (all Strengths)
Right now these 2 goalies are about equal.
Rick
I’ve been saying for years that Murray plays a huge part in the Pen’s
inability to get the puck out of their own end. He’s horrible at
controlling rebounds and I hold my breath every time he attempts
to leave his cage and handle the biscuit.
Go Pen’s
I agree Mike.
He doesn’t handle the puck well at all. He was decent at rebound control when he first came up, but those days are long gone.
It’s his tendency to give up goals at really bad times that both concerns and grates on me.
I didn’t watch the game last night, but followed it on NHL.com game center. As the clock ticked down below one minute I kept glancing at the score and the time remaining, mindful of Murray’s habit of giving up late-period goals. The clock had actually ticked down to 0:00 and the score was still showing 3-2 Pens, and I let out a huge sigh of relief.
Then this big gray box pops up announcing the tying Avalanche goal. My worst fears realized.
It’s like that with Murray every single game. No lead is ever safe.
Rick
Rick
i totally agree with you on Murray – he allows bad goals
at the worst possible moment in the game. You never
feel safe.
Jarry just has that swagger – Murray’s lost it at least for
the time being. Murray to me is playing tentative and
when you do that bad things are going to happen.
I’m also praying Sully stays with Jarry. Keeping my fingers
crossed. Sully definitely has a few favorites – Murray,
Simon, Letang, Aston Reese etc…etc…Did I miss anyone?
Go Pens
Sorry to burst your bubbles Mike, Rick but once again perception (the eye test) is worth a pound of obscure (useless).
5 on 5 this season Matt Murray gives up 2.87 rebound attempts per 60 minutes, Tristan Jarry 2.85 that is a dead heat.
All strengths this season – Murray 2.99. Jarry 2.89, a hair in Jarry’s favor. Jarry does appear on the surface to move the puck better, or at least risk moving the puck better but that is all. And I say on the surface because here is another fact for you, Jarry gives the puck away 0.65 time per 60 minutes, Murray only 0.40.
I have no problem with Jarry and hope he gets back to the form he was in before Christmas (As written above Jarry is about the same as Murray right now – better in some places – not so good in others), but I guess this is America and you have a right to your opinions, but objectivity does more than suggest you err. Your eye test seems a little more than tinted when you talk about Murray.
The Other Rick
No debate here but as I told you before “Numbers lie”
and this is experience talking. To me it’s obvious
Jarry is the Pen’s #1 goalie – he brings so much more
to the table in terms of helping his team win.
Murray plays tentative and never really seems sure
of himself – this affects how the entire team plays! Jarry
on the other hand plays with a little swagger / he’s
confident / under control – no matter the circumstances
his demeanor never changes and I can’t say that for
Murray.
Bottom line here is we need both goalies to play well
but when the chips are on the line I’m going w/Jarry.
Mike,
I do agree that Murray is playing tentative right now, even though he is trending back up right now, he is still tentative as evidenced by that bouncing puck, Landeskog goal. Unfortunately for the Penguins, Jarry is trending down since Christmas. Since Christmas they re about the same.
Long term, I have no problem with Jarry potentially taking over the reins of the team and possibly losing Murray (Although I would trade him before I allow him to go the route of Fleury)
But then again, if Murray regains his Cup form, a form that everyone used the same glowing praises on him that they are now showering Jarry with, then I keep him and trade Jarry. I like them both, but more importantly I like Ws and which ever puts the team in the best position for Ws, I won’t complain about.