Murray’s character shines after displeasurable start
Penguins fans generally are terrific as long as the best player in the world plays on their team and their team is winning. They weren’t so supportive before Mario Lemieux arrived in town, certainly not before the Penguins’ pingpong ball came up in the Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes. Mellon Arena was so empty most nights before Crosby got here that the franchise nearly moved to Kansas City.
But many Penguins fans can be front-runners with the best of ’em. They packed PPG Paints Arena again Sunday for the game against the Boston Bruins, running the team’s sellout streak to 600 dating to
Feb. 14, 2007, when the games were at Mellon Arena. That is a phenomenal number.
The Penguins won, 4-3, after falling behind, 3-0.
On this day, the team was so much better than its fans.
The ones who serenaded Matt Murray with Bronx cheers early in the game should be ashamed of themselves.
No, it wasn’t a good start for Murray or the Penguins. Boston’s Patrice Bergeron got behind Jared McCann and beat Murray with a wrist shot just 11 seconds in. Moments later, Murray mishandled the puck behind his net and lost it to the Bruins’ Joakim Nordstrom, who would have scored on a wraparound if he hadn’t been hurried by a diving Kris Letang. Moments after that, Anders Bjork put Boston ahead, 2-0, when he scored at the end of a 3-on-2. It was the Bruins’ second goal on just three shots.
That’s when it became embarrassing for the home crowd.
It obnoxiously cheered Murray when he stopped a shot from the red line by Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo.
There would be a few more Bronx cheers after Murray’s next few saves.
“No comment,” Murray said when asked about his treatment from the fans.
It was a “no comment” that said plenty.
Clearly, Murray didn’t like the crowd’s reaction. It’s fair to say it angered him. It also probably hurt him.
Wouldn’t the fake cheers anger and hurt you?
“We heard the cheers in the first,” Letang said. “I mean, that’s not the time to do that.”
Murray deserved better even though he has had an uneven season and lost his starting job to Tristan Jarry. His name is on the Stanley Cup twice, remember? Murray won 15 games in the Cup run in 2016 and the final seven in 2016 after taking over for Marc-Andre Fleury. Murray also has been playing much better since late December. He started Sunday after getting the win in a 2-1 overtime victory Friday night in Detroit, the first time since Nov. 19 and Nov. 21 that he started consecutive games. This latest win was his fifth in a row. He allowed just 13 goals on 173 shots in those games, a .925 save percentage. He stopped 24 of the Bruins’ final 25 shots, the one goal he allowed a fluke when Jack Johnson put a pass by Boston’s David Pastrnak into his own net.
“Matt is a professional. He knows what he has to do,” Letang said. “Hats off to him. He played a great game.”
“I give Matt Murray a ton of credit,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He made some dynamite saves in the third period. We don’t win the game if Matt doesn’t make those saves.”
Murray acknowledged that a slight increase in his playing time has sharpened his game. “Yeah, maybe a little.”
Murray’s strong play and a bit of a drop in performance by Jarry, who has allowed three goals in each of his past six starts, has opened the door for Murray to reclaim the starting job. He should get the start Tuesday night in Philadelphia in the Penguins’ final game until Jan. 31.
“We think we have two good goalies playing for us right now,” Sullivan said. “If you have the capability to split the workload and you have quality guys, that’s an advantage for your team.”
Murray gave the Penguins a chance to win Sunday by stopping all 24 shots he faced in the final two periods. Dominik Simon, Teddy Blueger, Johnson and Bryan Rust scored goals to bring the team all the way back.
It was an impressive win against a strong, talented team in what amounted to the Penguins third game in 3½ days.
“We didn’t have the start we wanted, but I thought we had a real good response,” Sullivan said. “I was pleased with our guys. I think it was a character win.”
Well said.
No one showed more character than Murray.