CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Sure, Matt Murray would love to face 20 shots instead of 40. Not because it's a lighter workload but, rather, because his team would be possessing the puck more. Besides, he adds, it would be “small-minded” — his word, not mine — to assess his team’s overall performance merely by how many shots he faces.
He’d also love it if his defense blocked 18 shots instead of nine — all without screening his view of the puck, of course — but ...
“I’m not the coach. I’m not going to tell guys to block shots,” he told DKPittsburghSports.com after Monday’s practice at the Lemieux Sports Complex. “That’s not my job.”
Nope, no matter the situation or the circumstances, his job description doesn’t change one iota. He, and he alone, is the Penguins' last line of defense.
“My job is to stop the puck,” Murray told me.
Since returning from a concussion that sidelined him for 22 days, Murray has been at times both brilliant and pedestrian, allowing 11 goals in three games. On Sunday, Murray made 41 saves in a 5-4 overtime win over the Flyers to earn his first victory in over a month.
Murray is rounding his way back into pre-concussion form, but clearly he's not there quite yet. He had unobstructed views on Philadelphia's first two goals but was beaten glove-side on both. Then, late in regulation, Murray had a Shayne Gostisbehere slap shot pop out of his catching glove and to the waiting stick of Sean Couturier, who sent the game to overtime:
But Murray isn't about to let that performance — or any other — rattle him. That's just not his way. There's no breaking sticks over crossbars, no slamming water bottles with him.
"It’s tough being a goalie sometimes," Murray said. "A lot of adversity gets thrown your way, night in and night out. For sure, there are times when you feel yourself getting angry or frustrated, but when you take a step back and take a look at it, what’s that going to do for you? It’s only going to make things worse.
"So there’s no point in getting frustrated or dwelling on what’s happened in the past. It’s all about stopping that next shot, and that’s what I always say, and I really mean that. That’s the mindset that I try to keep, whether I let in 10 goals or zero goals. It’s not necessarily about that. It’s about how you felt and feeling even better on the next one. That’s just the mindset I try to keep."
Obviously, that mindset has been tested the last week.
The trade-deadline deal of top shot-blocker Ian Cole, coupled with Murray's injury, has raised legitimate questions about whether the Penguins are good enough defensively to win a third straight Cup.
They have given up an average of 3.53 goals per game over their last 15. In Murray's three starts, they have given up 39.3 shots per game. In their last two games, the Penguins have blocked just 17 total shots.
Mike Sullivan believes his team — one built on offense — still can be effective at the other end. But they need to utilize their talent better so they don't have to block shots, a last resort and often a painful one.
"I think we can do a better job of using our skill sets to defend in our end zone — which is our quickness, our ability, our stick detail and our hockey sense — to win puck battles, to stop cycles, to get in diagonals and passing lanes, to not allow potential opportunities for pucks to get to the point," he said.
Defense is not just about the goalie or the defensemen, it's about paying attention to details and playing a team game to deny scoring chances before they develop. And that means backchecking, which is something that Phil Kessel got caught not doing on the Flyers' first goal on Sunday:
And Evgeni Malkin got caught on Philadelphia's second goal:
Now, the Penguins are never going to be confused for a team of Selke candidates. Offensive players like Kessel and Malkin are major, major reasons why they've won the Stanley Cup each of the last two years.
But Murray has been another of those big reasons.
Despite his star-crossed season, which has included a knee injury and a personal leave, he has total confidence in his ability. Yes, he leans heavily on his technique — which allows Murray to make it look "easy," according to Sullivan — but the goalie says it's not quite that simple.
"You can have perfect technique on every shot and still have to get to out of your comfort zone once in a while and just make a read," Murray was saying. "I definitely work on my technique, but you don’t want to be a robot out there.
"You can almost get stuck when you're too technical. You’ve got to be fluid. You’ve got to be always in motion. You have to be able to make a read and make an adjustment. There’s so many crazy bounces and so many things that being technically sound will only get you so far with."
• The Penguins held a half-hour practice Monday before departing for tomorrow night’s game at Detroit.
• All players were present at the Lemieux Complex, including Zach Aston-Reese, who appears close to returning from an upper body injury that has kept him out since Feb. 26.
• The lines and pairs were identical to those from Sunday’s game:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Patric Hornqvist
Carl Hagelin - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Conor Sheary - Derick Brassard - Phil Kessel
Tom Kuhnhackl - Riley Sheahan - Zach Aston-Reese/Dominik Simon
Brian Dumoulin - Justin Schultz
Jamie Oleksiak - Kris Letang
Olli Maatta - Chad Ruhwedel