Gorman: Matt Murray saves Penguins in Game 2 victory
In the Stanley Cup Final, every play becomes magnified to the point that momentum can swing with every twist and turn, especially when the game is tied.
The Penguins' 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators in Game 2 on Wednesday night at PPG Paints Arena is a perfect example.
It was either won when they scored three goals in the first 3 minutes, 28 seconds of the third period or lost by the Predators when they couldn't score in the final 39 seconds of the first.
Seven Predators fired shots on goal in that span, and none of them got one past Penguins goalie Matt Murray. Not Cody McLeod. Not Victor Arvidsson. Not Mike Fisher. Not James Neal. Not Pontus Aberg. Not Filip Forsberg. Not Roman Josi.
"Murray played fantastic for us," Penguins defenseman Ian Cole said. "He's such a calming presence back there. He never gets rattled. A goal goes in, and he can play the exact same way after that. That's hard for any goalie to do, but especially one that's still really quite young.
"He's mature beyond his years, and I think the guys feed off that calmness and that confidence he has."
The biggest stop came on Forsberg's wrister, a pad save on a point-blank shot from the top of the crease with 21 seconds left.
"You never want to allow anything in the last little bit of a period," Murray said. "You never want to give them momentum going into the intermission. At the end of each period is a big point in any game, and we were able to weather that storm."
Murray got off to a great start in the second, stopping Josi's laser from the left circle, frustrating the Predators to the point that McLeod took a run at Murray by knocking him into the net.
Murray continues to make Penguins coach Mike Sullivan's controversial call to replace Marc-Andre Fleury in goal to start Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final at Ottawa like a brilliant move.
In the six games since, Murray has a .943 save percentage, including 37 saves in Game 2. The 23-year-old, still considered a rookie despite winning the Cup last year, was coming off his fifth-worst playoff performance after allowing three goals on 26 shots in Game 1.
"You try to be good every game. It doesn't matter what happened in the last one," Murray said. "I thought I was OK in Game 1. I wasn't great. We got the job done, but it wasn't pretty. I thought overall as a team, we played a lot better. We're headed in the right direction, but we still have a lot of room to improve."
Not that much, actually.
Murray already ranks among the best in the history of the game. He registered his 20th career postseason victory in 27 decisions, joining three Hall of Fame goalies for fastest to reach that milestone: Bill Durnan, Grant Fuhr and Patrick Roy.
"That's very humbling," Murray said. "It means a lot to me."
And Murray's composure in the crease means a lot to the Penguins, who take a 2-0 series lead to Nashville.
"I just try to focus on my job, not to worry about any noise or distractions," Murray said. "I just try not to worry about anything I can't control and just worry about doing my job and giving the team the best chance to win."
For the Penguins, having Murray in goal is proving to be a good place to start.
Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at kgorman@tribweb.com or via Twitter @KGorman_Trib.
