Murray turns back Jets
league-wide. He has been that good.
Murray allowed a combined two goals in home wins against the Edmonton Oilers Tuesday and then the Jets, and both were deflected by Penguins defensemen: Chad Ruhwedel on Connor McDavid’s Tuesday, Kris Letang on Josh Morrissey’s Thursday.
Murray specializes in playing a quiet game — sort of the opposite of former goaltending partner MarcAndre Fleury — where Murray can make difficult saves look routine. But this week has seen Murray add some Fleury-esque flash.
Like his paddle stop on Edmonton’s Mark Letestu Tuesday. Or a several on Jets phenom Patrik Laine Thursday.
“You watch him out there, he’s made some unreal saves,” said Phil Kessel, who scored the game-winning goal at 1:07 of overtime.
“They’ve had some twoon-ones, backdoor stuff that he’s gone over and got. Acrobatic saves out there.
“He’s played well for us. Whenever you have a goalie that lets in one goal a night, you know you should win most of them.” Good point, Phil. And, to be fair, that’s generally what happens when Murray starts.
Murray improved to 25-44 during the regular season at home. The Penguins (7-01) have points in all eight of his starts this season. Stretching back to the end of last season, Murray is 110-1 in his past dozen decisions.
This, of course, discounts the Stanley Cup playoffs, where Murray has made some serious hay at this point in his career.
“He’s a low-maintenance guy,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He comes to the rink and works hard. His demeanor, for me, has been the same since he’s been here.
“He’s always had a quiet confidence about him, and that’s part of what makes him as good as he is. It’s hard to be good in this league at any position if you don’t believe in yourself, if you don’t have that innertrust or inner-belief that you’re good.”
Sounds a little like SmithSchuster, no?
“He’s been lights-out,” Ryan Reaves said of Murray. “I don’t know how he does it. But he’s been rock solid for the last couple of games now.”
It took all of 17 seconds for Murray to get his fingerprints on this one. That’s when he made a key stop on Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele. That was a tone-setter.
Murray added a key pad stop on Blake Wheeler in the first, twice robbed Laine in the second and denied Tyler Myers on a breakaway.
Let’s just say the degree of difficult wasn’t small. Murray’s sneaky-good athleticism shone through.
“When he needs to make that save and relies on that athleticism, it’s been evident the last couple of games,” Sullivan said.
“He’s made a couple of real key saves for us that are desperation-type saves where it looks like he’s down and out and he gets across with a second effort, gets a paddle on it or whatever it may be. That’s part of his compete level.”
Then, there’s the mental side of things.
Conor Sheary scored at 1:25 of the first, and Morrissey answered at 9:26. Until Kessel’s goal, the Penguins and Jets went back and forth, Pittsburgh especially pushing the envelope with its dynamic power play.
But no goals. A mistake either way could change the complexion. Murray, of course, remained the same. Always does. No different than if he let in one or three. No different than if he was up five.
It’s that sort of mental approach that makes Murray sort of a grizzled, 35-year-old veteran trapped inside a millennial’s body.
It also makes him the type of goaltender who is capable of taking control of things when the guys in front of him have scored just two regulation goals in two games.
“You can’t get too comfortable, either,” Murray said. “If you start thinking you’re playing too well, and you take a step back, one gets by you. You have to be on your toes all the time. That’s what I try to do.”
Around the boards
The Penguins have won 17 consecutive home games against the Jets dating to March 24, 2007. … Kessel’s goal was his 300th, making him the 18th Americanborn player to reach that milestone. … Dating to last season, the Penguins have just six regulation losses at home during the regular season (35-6-5).