Another weekend and another set of back-to-back starts for Matt Murray.
Mike Sullivan announced that his No. 1 goalie will be back in net tonight when the Penguins host the Boston Bruins at PPG Paints Arena in yet another crucial game.
Before last weekend's double dip at Buffalo and Montreal, Murray had played in consecutive games just four times previously in his career. But with the Penguins still looking to solidify a playoff berth, Sullivan is leaning heavily on Murray.
"He wants to be the guy," Sullivan said Sunday night. "He's a competitive kid. He knows how important these games are this time of year and he wants the net. He's played extremely well and he's deserving of it."
Tonight's game will be his eighth straight start and comes 24 hours after he turned in perhaps his finest performance of the season when turned aside 29 of 32 shots in Saturday night's 4-1 loss to the Blue Jackets in Columbus.
Since his last off day, Murray is 4-1-2 with a .927 save percentage. Due to injury, Murray has missed 11 games this season. That, in part, is why Sullivan said he's been willing to give his No. 1 goalie more starts. Tonight's game will be just his 38th start of the season. Compare that, to say, Marc-Andre Fleury, who has made 58 starts for the Golden Knights.
After Murray responded well to his consecutive starts last weekend, a split against the Sabres and Canadiens, Sullivan said it was a no-brainer to go again with Murray tonight.
"I've had a lot of conversations with Matt almost daily with where he's at, how he's feeling," the coach said. "When we look at his body of work to this point, his game count is still down. We still feel as though, and some of that is through injury, there's been a lot of things, but it's not like he's in the 50's and he's going to end up at 70 games when it's all said and done.
"He feels good, he feels strong. He's confident, and right now we think he gives us the best chance to win."
The Bruins will start Jaroslav Halak, after Tuukka Rask started last night against Ottawa.
BRADFORD'S VIEW
If ever Casey DeSmith was going to get back in net between now and when the Penguins clinch a playoff spot, tonight was it.
DeSmith, who hasn't started since a 4-0 loss to the Sharks on Feb. 21, had the game of his career when the Penguins last faced the Bruins on Dec. 14. That night, DeSmith stopped 48 of 51 Boston shots in the Penguins' 5-3 win at PPG.
The Bruins have since gone on a 19-game point streak, having not lost in regulation since Jan. 19.
Certainly, I understand the logic with going with Murray until a playoff berth is sealed, but I would have gone with DeSmith tonight. My fear is that the Penguins are running a risk of over-exposing their No. 1 goalie. They have 14 games remaining on the schedule -- including another set of back-to-backs next weekend against the Blues and Flyers --and while that's not a lot of games, it's more than a handful.
I have little question about Murray's ability -- even his glove hand -- and can appreciate that he wants the net, but the bigger concern has always been his ability to stay healthy. If Murray goes down, then the Penguins will have to turn to DeSmith. What message are they sending their backup?