Murray’s fall from grace stunning

Matt Murray has gone from hoisting the Stanley Cup in June 2017 for the second consecutive season as a key player with the Penguins to being the worst goaltender in the NHL in February 2021 with the Ottawa Senators. I’m fairly certain a few athletes have fallen faster, further and harder, but I’ll be darned if I can think of one.

How did this happen? How can a goaltender who is 26 and should be entering the prime of his career be so bad?

For one thing, the Senators stink. They are the worst team in hockey, going 0-7-1 since beating Toronto in their opening game. They have been outscored 44-22 in their nine games.

But a big reason the Senators are lousy is Murray. His goalsagainst average is 4.82, worst in the NHL. His save percentage is .849, second worst in the league behind teammate Marcus Hogberg. Since beating Toronto 5-3 in that opener, Murray was pulled after two periods of a 4-1 loss to Winnipeg after giving up four goals on 26 shots. He was embarrassed by coach D.J. Smith in a 7-1 loss to Vancouver when Smith left him in for all seven goals. He was pulled just 7:20 into an 8-5 loss Sunday night to Edmonton after giving up three goals on nine shots. Former Penguins teammate Dominik Kahun beat him for a goal 8 seconds in.

And you think the Penguins have been struggling to get good goaltending?

Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith look like Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy compared with Murray.

The Senators have to be having second thoughts about trading forward prospect Jonathan Gruden and a second-round pick to the Penguins in October

for Murray. They have to be wondering what they were thinking when they almost immediately signed Murray to a four-year, $25 million contract. Murray has been that awful.

I know Murray’s play slipped late in his time with the Penguins, especially in the playoffs. Going back to the second-round series loss to Washington in 2018, he lost 10 of his final 12 postseason starts, allowing at least three goals in eight of the games and four in four. He was benched for his final game with the Penguins last season when Mike Sullivan went with Jarry in the elimination loss to Montreal in Game 4 of their first-round series.

But for Murray to be this bad with Ottawa?

I didn’t see it coming. Who did?

It’s hard to believe Murray is the same goaltender who was so crucial to the Penguins’ consecutive Cup runs. He went 15-6 in the playoffs in 2016 with a 2.08 goals-against average and .923 save percentage. He went 7-3 with a 1.70 goalsagainst average and .937 percentage in 2017 after taking over for Marc-Andre Fleury in the third-round series against Ottawa. He pitched shutouts in Game 5 and clinching Game 6 against Nashville in the 2017 Cup final. He was nothing less than a hockey hero.

But Murray never received the love he deserved from Penguins fans. It’s a shame, really. No matter what he did, he had no chance of being as popular as Fleury, one of the most beloved athletes in Pittsburgh sports history. He became something of a villain when the team allowed Fleury to move on to Vegas in order to keep him after the 2016-17 season.

Murray was at the center of one of the city’s most embarrassing sports moments during a home game against Boston in January 2020. Patrice Bergeron beat him for a goal just 11 seconds in. Moments later, Murray mishandled a puck behind his net and lost it to Joakim Nordstrom, who nearly scored. Murray then gave up a goal to Anders Bjork moments later, the second goal he allowed on three shots.

Many fans at PPG Paints Arena let Murray have it. They obnoxiously cheered him when he stopped a shot from the red line by Brandon Carlo. There were more Bronx cheers after his next few saves.

I was embarrassed for Penguins fans that night.

They embarrassed the city.

“No comment,” Murray said, tersely, when I asked him about the treatment from the crowd.

It was a “no comment” that said plenty.

Clearly, Murray was angry and hurt because he knew he didn’t deserve the jeers.

Now, Murray is hearing boos from at least some of the Ottawa fans. This time, it’s hard to say he doesn’t deserve them.