Frantically, Matt Murray whipped his neck to the left, then to the right. Realizing the puck was indeed in the back of his net, the Penguins goalie ever-so-briefly threw his head straight down, his body contorting awkwardly as if 1,000 volts of electricity shook through his spine.
Getting himself to one knee, Murray slowly picked himself up off the ice and darted toward the bench, weaving his way through oncoming Capitals players as they poured out onto the ice in celebration.
Just like that, it was all over.
That Evgeny Kuznetsov breakaway in overtime of Game 6 was the last shot that Murray faced in his star-crossed 2017-18 season. For a goaltender whose mantra is all about "stopping the next shot," the 29th goal against him in 12 games this postseason will gnaw on him for some time. The next shot he stops won't come for another five months or so.
When it does, he says he'll be ready.
"Everything that's happened is going to make me stronger in the long run," Murray was saying the other day as the dethroned champions parted ways for the summer.
Obviously, this was a much different ending than Murray or the Penguins were expecting, certainly different than anything he'd experienced in his first two playoff runs. Then, it had been all short summers filled with parades and parties.
Perhaps the silver lining in the Penguins' second-round exit is that the extra time off will allow the soon-to-be 24-year-old to get right both physically and mentally. Do not underestimate that last part. Murray's third season was easily his most trying personally and professionally.
There were three extended absences, two due to injury (knee and concussion) and another following the death of his father, a personal tragedy that weighed heavily on him for much of the first half of the season.
Murray certainly had his moments but, statistically at least, he took a step backwards in all categories. He went 27-16-3 but saw his save percentage drop from .923 in 2016-17 to .907 this year. His goals-against average ballooned from 2.41 to 2.92.
He was only marginally better in the playoffs with a .908 save percentage and 2.43 goals-against average but was nothing like the goalie who'd posted a .937 save percentage and 1.70 GAA the previous spring. Save for a brilliant Game 1 performance against Washington, Murray was as much a reason for the loss to the Capitals as the Penguins' leaky defense and lack of scoring. When it got down to it, he just didn't make the timely saves that had come to define his young career.
"The line between winning and losing is so thin in this league, probably the thinnest of any pro sports league, I would say," Murray says. "Any team can beat any team on any given night. I say that all the time, but it's really true. That's just part of the game of hockey. It's about little things, little tiny things that you don't think are a big deal but that's what separates the great teams from the good ones."
During the team's getaway day, I asked Murray to assess his season. The answer was vintage Murray:
"I'm not going to answer that," he said. "I'd be answering that for days."
As has been written many times before, Murray is mature beyond his years. In more ways than just winning a Stanley Cup before his rookie season, he's a latter-day Ken Dryden. He's cerebral and one of the more introspective athletes you'll ever hear. More than tracking pucks or using his size to his advantage, Murray's greatest strength lies between his ears. Playing a position that requires great flexibility, he has the mental ability to compartmentalize bad goals or bad games.
Games 5 and 6 against Washington marked just the second time in his 44 career postseason games that he'd lost back-to-back starts. Though humbling, he views those games and the 2017-18 season as an opportunity to get better.
"Every year I learn more an more about how to be a pro and how to handle the ins and outs of a long season, dealing with the adversity and all that stuff," he says. "This year was a huge learning year for me and I'm very appreciative of that."
At 6-foot-4, Murray possesses the requisite height of a modern goaltender. In his butterfly, he eats up a good portion of the net but, underneath all those pads, he is still just 178 pounds, or just three pounds heavier than 5-foot-8 Conor Sheary. The organization has been very quick to deny that there is any correlation between his size or the nature of his injuries, saying they have all been random acts of bad luck.
That was certainly the case this season.
On Nov. 27, Philadelphia's Jake Voracek lost an edge while driving to the net and plowed into Murray's knee and the post, forcing the goalie to miss a half dozen games.
Coming off a bereavement absence that sidelined him seven games in January, Murray responded with his best hockey of the season. Not coincidentally, it was also the Penguins' best stretch. Between Jan. 30 and Feb. 24, Murray went 8-1-1 with one of his losses coming in relief at Florida and the other coming in a shootout at Dallas.
But in a basic Monday morning practice at the Lemieux Sports Complex on Feb. 26, just hours before the trade deadline, an unsuspecting Murray was struck in the facemask by an Olli Maatta slap shot. It was the second documented concussion of Murray's NHL career and would cost him another nine games.
Murray, who ended up making 45 starts (49 appearances), the second straight year he'd fail to play in 50, doesn't play the what-if game.
"I didn't choose when I got my concussion, it just happens," he says. "I don't really think like that. I don't worry about that. It was unfortunate, especially a concussion. It's no fun having a concussion, especially at that time of year. But I didn't really let it affect me, came back and played really well afterwards. It was unfortunate but it was out of my control."
There, most will have to agree to disagree with Murray. He played "well" afterward but was not at a championship level. He went 4-4 in his last eight regular-season starts, allowing three or more goals in seven of those games. In hindsight, what happened to Murray and the Penguins in the playoffs was rather predictable.
"It's not easy. It's not an ideal situation to be in and out. You want to play as much as you can. The more you play, the more you're going to learn, the more you're going to know how to handle certain things but injuries are also part of the game. I may get injured again. It's a fast game out there and stuff happens quick and sometimes you get hurt. You need to be able to learn how to deal with that and be able to come back stronger."
Whether adversity builds character, reveals it or however the saying goes, Murray's got that stuff in spades. No one should doubt if Murray bounces back better than ever, though. There's clearly no doubt in his mind.
"My goal is to get better each and every day," Murray says. "If you keep that course of action, you can do great things. That's what I hope to do."