Crosby, Penguins beat the Senators
Ottawa, Ontario — Maybe Matt Murray was the magic elixir the Penguins' offense needed.
Or maybe chalk up the result to Murray's calm demeanor, which was evident from the start of this one. It could also be a coincidence. Whatever the reason, Murray's return as the Penguins' starting goaltender coincided with a better offensive performance and ultimately a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final on Friday at Canadian Tire Centre.
With the series tied at two wins apiece, Game 5 will be Sunday back in Pittsburgh.
The decision to start Murray — who stopped 24 of 26 shots — over Marc-Andre Fleury for this one was hardly easy.
A case could be made that it was the most difficult call coach Mike Sullivan had to make all season. Earlier in the day, he showed little interest in discussing the specifics.
Although he was touched for two goals, Murray mostly looked like the goaltender who backstopped the Penguins to a Stanley Cup last season and won 32 games during the regular season in 2016-17.
His rebound control was especially good early, with pucks sticking to him. Other times, Murray strategically funneled shots to the outside.
Not bad when you consider this was Murray's first start since April 6, when he said he felt something pop and then re-injured whatever it was during warmups before the first game of the playoffs.
As a result of Friday's win, the Penguins improved to 12-2 in the playoffs under Sullivan after a loss.
With Ottawa buzzing as a result of a goal late in the second period, Murray made three keys stops in a 17-second stretch early in the third, on Mike Hoffman, Erik Karlsson and Tom Pyatt.
Held to two or fewer goals in six consecutive games and in seven of their past eight, the Penguins got goals from Olli Maatta, Sidney Crosby and Brian Dumoulin.
They hadn't reached the threegoal mark since Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Washington, but they turned in their most aggressive performance so far in this series, finishing with 35 shots on goal.
Maatta staked the Penguins to a 1-0 lead at 19:14 of the opening period. After taking a pass from Crosby, Maatta snuck a shot under Craig Anderson's right arm from the bottom of the right circle.