WASHINGTON -- Another team, another goaltender, perhaps a breakaway goal just 17 seconds into the game might have crushed a young goalie's confidence.
But if we have learned anything collectively over these last three springs it's that Matt Murray isn't your typical 23-year-old and the Penguins aren't your average team.
With Murray it's not about the save he makes or the goal he lets in. It's always — always — about the next shot.
The one that Evgeny Kuznetsov got past him before the raucous crowd at Capital One Arena could even settle into their seats? Done and over with.
It's about the next shot.
Murray faced 33 more of those and he stopped 32 of them. He wasn't the only difference-maker in the Penguins' wild 3-2 win over the Capitals in Game 1 of their second round series, but he was clearly the biggest.
Go figure: The battle between the Penguins and Capitals — two of the NHL's most dynamic offenses — was settled in a goaltender's duel on Thursday.
It's true, Washington's Braden Holtby was equally exceptional, especially early, but what separates the Penguins from the Capitals is the ability to finish and to pull out such tight games. Murray doesn't blink.
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCOREDon't believe me, ask Devante Smith-Pelly:
He was flat-out robbed of a sure goal early in the second period. With the Capitals holding a 1-0 lead, a rebound squirted to the left side of the net where Smith-Pelly had the entire 6x4 net open. Opting to play it safe, Smith-Pelly shot right down the middle where Murray, pushing off his post, was just able to get a piece of it with the inside of his blocker.
Or ask Brett Connolly:
With 2:30 left in the game, and the Penguins clinging to a one-goal lead, the Capitals left wing had the tying goal on his stick. Again, an open net to shoot at from the left side and he too shot back toward the middle where Murray lunged to his right, again just getting the puck with the inside of his blocker.
"It was like déjà vu," Murray said referring to his identical saves, but he might have been speaking about the Penguins' mastery of the Capitals. "It was the exact same play, through a screen so I couldn't really pick up the first shot, wasn't able to control the rebound, had a guy wide open backdoor. Just tried to get something on it."
Mike Sullivan called Murray's performance "critical."
"It's hard to win this time of year if you don't get a timely save and Matt gave it to us tonight," the coach was saying. "He does it time and time again for us. I think that's why he's accomplished as he is for a young goalie."
Even for a player of the same age, Jake Guentzel says Murray's poise under pressure is remarkable:
"I think that's our mindset as a team, just play," Murray said, reiterating a favored saying of Sullivan. "Just stick to our game plan and stick to what makes us successful. There's going to be good things out there and bad things out there; it's about how you respond."
Surely, after the way the first round series against Philadelphia ended, giving up nine goals over the final two games and nearly getting pulled in Game 6 against the Flyers, Murray clearly wanted to make a response.
When the Penguins went down 2-0 on Alex Ovechkin's goal off a 2-on-1 just 28 seconds into the third period, there was no panic. With the Penguins, the offense will come.
It did in a 4:49 span, a whirlwind between 2:59 and 7:48 of the third period when Patric Hornqvist, Sidney Crosby and Guentzel scored to wipe out the Capitals' lead.
"I thought we did a good job of just shooting and getting bodies to the net. That's how you have to score goals this time of year," Murray said. "We did a really good job of that, good job of staying resilient. Even after they got that first one. I'm proud of our resolve and our resiliency."
Murray was speaking about his team, but he could have been talking about himself.
In the dying seconds of the game and Holtby back at the Capitals bench in favor of an extra attacker, Murray put the exclamation point on Game 1, somehow stopping this T.J. Oshie high tip:
Murray's performance, which made the Game 1 comeback possible, wasn't lost on Kris Letang :
Maybe we shouldn't be surprised anymore by what Murray is capable of. But performances like Thursday's should be cherished.
"I have no expectations when I'm out there," Murray said. "I can't predict the future. I can't control what happens. All I can control is what I do."
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Capitals, Washington, April 26, 2018. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS