Letang’s hit blemishes Penguins’ win
Rookie Murray’s 47 saves give team 2-1 lead in series
PITTSBURGH The Pittsburgh Penguins left Consol Energy Center with a grind-it-out 3-2 playoff win against the Washington Capitals on Monday but won’t know what it cost them until Tuesday evening.
The excitement of rookie goalie Matt Murray’s posting a 47save victory has to be tempered by concern that star defenseman Kris Letang could face a hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety because of the illegal hit he laid on Washington forward Marcus Johansson in the first period.
No one is sure what will happen with Letang, but everyone was sure that Murray saved the Penguins in Game 3.
“It’s a culmination of things (with Murray),” Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin said. “His poise, quiet confidence, his calmness is well beyond his years.”
At 21, he’s sporting a .939 save percentage and a goals-against average under 2.00. He’s drawing comparisons to the way young Patrick Roy played for the Montreal Canadiens in 1986 or Cam Ward played for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. In both of those situations, young goalies led their team to a Stanley Cup.
“I thought he was terrific,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “The disparity in shots was because (the Capitals) had the puck all night.”
But Murray’s performance was overshadowed by concern about what will happen with Letang going forward.
“It will be interesting how (the Department of Player Safety) handles it,” Washington goalie Braden Holtby said. “If it is fair, he won’t be in the next game. But that’s out of our control.”
The fairness reference is about the fact that Washington defenseman Brooks Orpik is sitting out a three-game suspension for an illegal hit against Pittsburgh defenseman Olli Maatta. One major difference is that Maatta was injured to the point he couldn’t play Game 3. Johansson did return to the game.
“I didn’t see him coming,” Johansson said. “He came from the blind side. I just looked at it, he obviously leaves his feet and hits me in the head. It’s the kind of play you want out of the league. Doesn’t look good.”
He said he expected Letang to be suspended. “I went through all the concussion tests and stuff like that. Just some issues with my neck right now,” Johansson said.
“I just got hit right in the head and a little whiplash I think.”
Did you watch the hit on video? “Yes I did.”
Although Letang was given a two-minute minor for interference, the replay shows he came up high with his shoulder. How much of the head did he get? Did he launch into the check? How much after Johansson released the puck was the hit delivered? All of those factors will be consid- ered by the NHL office before it makes a decision.
“It’s a real physical series on both sides,” said Sullivan, who didn’t want to discuss the Letang situation any further.
The Penguins didn’t look as sharp as they did in the first two games in Washington. They lead 2-1 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal that resumes Wednesday with Game 4 in Pittsburgh.
If the NHL decides that Letang should have a hearing, it would probably come Tuesday afternoon and the league would rule in the early evening. At least, that was the timing in the Orpik case.
What makes the Letang situation more fascinating is that Monday afternoon Capitals coach Barry Trotz in essence accused the NHL of giving the Penguins preferential treatment when Orpik was suspended for three games.
“I’m disappointed but not surprised ( by the suspension length) based on who we’re playing and all that,” Trotz said.
Asked to elaborate, he said, “Take it for whatever you want.”