Murray comes up big in 3rd period as Penguins hold off Capitals
WASHINGTON — Debate raged on in the nation’s capital.
Should the incumbent remain or be replaced?
On Sunday, a sound case was made to those arguing the issue.
Goaltender Matt Murray made 29 saves and led the Penguins to a 4-3 victory against the rival Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena.
It was Murray’s first start in two weeks and provided evidence he should be the Penguins’ No. 1 goaltender as the team approaches the postseason.
Of course, it wouldn’t be pettifogging to point out Murray has been platooning for more than a month with All-Star Tristan Jarry.
“We believe we have a real strong goalie tandem,” coach Mike Sullivan said before the game. “Matt’s game has been strong in his last handful of starts. As has Tristan’s. We feel like we’ve got two really strong goalies that are going to give us a chance to win, that are going to make the timely saves for us.
“Matt’s game, in particular, has been really good.”
That was evident through the quantity of quality scoring chances Murray turned away throughout the game, particularly in the third period, when he was forced to make 11 saves.
“He was awesome,” defenseman Jack Johnson said. “He was spectacular. Everyone was super pumped for him. He played the way he was capable of playing every night.”
After the Capitals opened the scoring 10 minutes, 38 seconds into the game when forward Lars Eller connected on his 12th goal of the season, the Penguins responded 68 seconds later. After Penguins forward Alex Galchenyuk forced a neutral zone turnover, rookie forward Sam Lafferty, one day removed from being recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, converted it into his fifth goal of the season against rookie goaltender Ilya Samsonov.
The Penguins took their first lead at 12:40 of the first when forward Patric Hornqvist netted his 12th goal off a deflection from a pass by rookie defenseman John Marino.
It became a 3-1 contest at 11:59 of the second period thanks to Dominik Simon pushing a backhander from the slot through Samsonov’s five hole.
The third period featured three goals and several difficult saves for Murray.
Washington pulled within one at 6:00 of the third period when forward Evgeny Kuznetsov settled a deflected pass in the left circle, cut across the front of the crease and lifted a backhander past Murray’s glove hand for his 18th goal.
The score could have been tied at 13:42 of the period when a rebound emerged to the left of the crease for Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin, but his forehand shot was snuffed out by a sprawling left-shoulder save by Murray.
“It was just kind of a loose puck,” Murray said. “I think it just was a shot on net. It hit somebody and went to the left, and I guess it was Ovi who picked it up and he made a nice move. He kind of held on to it instead of just shooting it. I just tried to get over there as fast as I could.”
After the Capitals’ strong push, Penguins forward Brandon Tanev appeared to stymie Washington’s momentum when he scored his 11th goal to give his team a 4-2 lead at 17:27 of the third period.
But only 15 seconds later, the Capitals made it 4-3 when Eller used Johnson as a screen and roofed a wrister from the slot past Murray’s glove.
After that, the Capitals, even with Samsonov pulled for an extra attacker, could generate only one shot on net in the final 2:18 of regulation.
The win pulled the Penguins (71 points) within four points of the Capitals (75 points) for first place in the Metropolitan Division as well as the top spot in the NHL’s overall standings.
It also prompted Murray’s teammates to offer testimony on his behalf.
“He was unbelievable,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “From the start of the game, they had some really good looks there early. He was great in every area, looking through traffic to pick up pucks, some quick plays in and around the net. They’ve got some shooters, so he made some big saves for us.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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