Empty Thoughts: Penguins 4, Devils 1

Observations from the Penguins’ 4-1 win against the Devils.

Of all the questions or criticisms lobbed at Matt Murray throughout his half decade in the NHL, playing too much hasn’t really been one of them.

He’s either platooned the goaltending position with Marc-Andre Fleury or he’s been too injured to take on the workload typical of a No. 1 goaltender.

Yet, with just over a quarter of the season completed, Murray has already logged 1,062:52 minutes, sixth-most in the NHL. That’s roughly 36 percent of the career-high of 2,880:14 which he established last season.

Make no mistake. The fact that Murray is in a position to play this many minutes is a wonderful development. So far this season, he has yet to deal with anything like a pulled groin or a concussion, ailments which have hobbled him in years past.

At the same time, it’s created a scenario which has been scarce with Murray.

This isn’t a commentary on Murray’s abilities or his worthiness of being a No. 1 goaltender. Others can peddle in that discussion.

But it is fair to wonder if he’s been used too much less than two months into the season. Especially when you consider what Tristan Jarry has offered in very limited usage this season.

On Friday, he made 36 saves on 37 shots and looked calm and composed, as he has in most of his finite appearances in 2019-20.

The team has almost strictly used Jarry in the second portion of contests on back-to-back nights. Using him more often could go a long way towards keeping Murray a bit fresher, especially when there are more back-to-back scenarios in the second half of the season and against more divisional or conference opponents.

It is believed the Penguins have a ratio of 55 or 60 games in mind for Murray and 25 to 20 for Jarry (or whoever the backup is). If this pace of starts for Murray holds true, he’ll appear in 67 games. Last season, Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild led all NHL goaltenders with 67 games.

Giving Murray a night off on a more regular basis wouldn’t be the worst thing for his benefit.

At the very least, Jarry has offered enough evidence he’s capable of picking up more starts.

What happened

The Penguins opened the scoring at 7:51 of the first period. After Penguins forward Dominik Simon battled Devils forward Pavel Zacha for a faceoff in New Jersey’s left circle, Penguins forward Dominik Kahun swooped in to claim the puck in the left corner. Dragging it past a sliding block attempt from Devils defenseman Mirco Mueller, Kahun worked his way to the slot and lifted a deft backhander past the blocker of goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood. Simon had the lone assist.

The Devils got on the scoreboard only 31 seconds into the second period. Working on a power play on a fresh ice surface, Devils defenseman Sami Vatanen lifted a wrister from the center point. Devils forward Kyle Palmieri knocked down in the crease and the puck bounced to the crease where Devils forward Nico Hischier deadened it and fed a slick pass to forward Taylor Hall sneaking in from the left circle. Hall then fired a wrister off the near post and past Jarry’s right skate. Assists went to Hischier and Palmieri.

A goal by Penguins forward Jake Guentzel, restored a lead, 2-1, at 12:27 of the second. Winning battle on the end boards against Devils forward Travis Zajac, Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson allowed defensive partner Chad Ruhwedel to chip the puck to the Penguins’ left corner. Beating Devils forward Blake Coleman to the puck, Ruhwedel one-handed it to forward Bryan Rust on the half wall. Rust then swiped a forehand pass to the far side of the ice for forward Evgeni Malkin in the neutral zone. From behind the center red line, Malkin fed a pass up the right wing for Guentzel who got behind Devils defenseman Andy Greene and created a breakaway. Attacking the net, Guentzel went forehand to backhand and lifted the puck past Blackwood’s left skate Assists were credited to Malkin and Rust.

It became a 3-1 game on a bit of a disjointed sequence at 17:55 of the third period. Coleman turned the puck over off his own right half wall while under pressure from Penguins forward Brandon Tanev. The puck was claimed by forward Alex Galchenyuk in the left circle. He tried to fire a wrister but fanned on the shot and struck Coleman in the face with his follow-through. The puck slid to the high slot where Penguins forward Jared McCann claimed it and ripped a wrister over Blackwood’s glove. Galchenyuk and Tanev got assists.

They poured it on only 25 seconds later. After forward Sam Lafferty had a wrister from the left half wall blocked by Zacha, the rebound hopped across the ice and off the boards. Penguins defenseman John Marino played the bank and swatted a one-timer. The puck went through Devils defenseman Damon Severson’s legs and beat Blackwood’s blocker on the far side. Penguins forward Teddy Blueger supplied a solid screen on the sequence. Assists were credited to forward Zach Aston-Reese and Lafferty. Blackwood was replaced by Louis Domingue after that score.

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins led in shots, 41-37.

• Vatanen led the game with seven shots.

• Marino led the Penguins with five shots.

• Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin led the game with 23:24 of ice time on 27 shifts.

• Defenseman P.K. Subban led the Devils with 21:24 of ice time on 26 shifts.

• The Devils controlled faceoffs, 34-29 (54 percent).

• Devils forward Travis Zajac was 13 for 18 (72 percent).

• Blueger was 8 for 12 (67 percent).

• Johnson led the game with three blocked shots.

• Subban led the Devils with two blocked shots.

Historically speaking

• At 3:14 of the second period, Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist recorded his first career fighting major when he battled Severson in response to a hit from behind on Guentzel:

• Considering how poorly Hornqvist fared in that bout, it’s pretty obvious why this was his first career fighting major.

Randomly speaking

• After taking eight penalties which led to seven opposing power-play opportunities against the New York Islanders on Thursday, the Penguins cut it down to five penalties leading to four power-play opportunities against the Devils.

• All 18 of the Penguins’ skaters finished at least a plus-1.

• Rust now has 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in 12 games.

Publicly speaking

• Penguins coach Mike Sullivan was asked about Jarry improving his practice habits:

“That was something that we talked to him specifically about. … We’re all creatures of habits. We are what we repeatedly do. We felt as though his attention to detail, his focus in practice will translate to a more consistent game. That’s been one of the hurdles that Tristan has to overcome to establish himself as a bona fide NHL everyday goaltender. The importance of those daily habits, in my experience, are what help a young player overcome that hurdle of consistency. It’s hard to be consistent in this league. It’s competitive, there’s a grind to it with the schedule. So your ability to overcome all of those challenges is so critically important to a player’s opportunity to have success. That was a discussion that we had with Tristan at the end of the year. We think he has taken it to heart. And because of that, his overall consistent game has translated to this point.”

• Sullivan on Kahun:

“We always felt Dom has the attributes to play the kind of game which we’re trying to play. We felt as though it was only a matter of time. There’s always an adjustment process that takes time from the player’s standpoint and the coaches’ standpoint. When a new player comes to our team, our coaching staff is trying to figure out how to best utilize that player within the context of the whole group. That’s an adjustment process for the coaches as well. So it takes place on both sides. We always felt like Dom was a good player, has real good offensive instincts, can play a fast game. He has a lot of the attributes that we value in players. As he’s gotten more comfortable with how we’re playing, just the details of our team concept and familiarity with our locker room and building relationships with his teammates and his coaching staff as well, I think all of that helps a player. Especially a young player like Dom. We just feel like he’s gaining more traction with every game that he plays. He’s playing with a lot of confidence. You can see his ability offensively with every game that he plays. He doesn’t score every game but he makes half a dozen plays every game that give us a chance to score.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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