Matt Murray made 44 saves on 48 shots in the Penguins' 6-4 win over the Predators on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena.
The win was Murrays' first in three weeks, and just his second win since Nov. 9. His last start was the Penguins' final game of the Canada road trip, where he made 10 saves on 14 shots in a loss to the Canucks on Dec. 21. Before that, he hadn't played since Dec. 7, a win over the last-place Red Wings in which Murray made 25 saves on 28 shots.
Saturday's game against the Predators was a shaky one at times for Murray, but after a strong third period he earned the confidence-boosting win.
"It feels good for sure," Murray said after the win.
Let's break down his night.
After taking a 3-0 lead in the first period, the Penguins were outscored 3-1 in the second period to cut their lead to just one goal. The first goal Murray allowed was a Predators power play goal from Viktor Arvidsson at 4:07 of the second period. Teddy Blueger turned the puck over in the Penguins' zone to Roman Josi, who passed it to Calle Jarnkrok. Murray stopped the initial shot from the point from Jarnkrok, but Arvidsson was able to lift the puck over Murray's pad. This one wasn't a weak goal:
After Alex Galchenyuk's second-period goal, the Predators were controlling the play for the rest of the middle frame. With just under four minutes remaining in the middle frame, Craig Smith shot the puck at the logo on Murray's chest and it snuck through a gap between his arm and body and went in. That's one Murray should have had:
Mikael Granlund scored during a scramble in the final minute of the second period. Matt Duchene drew Murray into a sprawling position in front of the net, then hit the post with his shot. Murray fell over Kris Letang while trying to get back into position, and Granlund shot the puck into the empty net. There's not much more Murray could have done here:
"I thought we outplayed them in the first," Murray said. "After that, they pushed back real hard and they got a good team and good players. After the first period for sure, they brought it."
Granlund tied the game 8:56 into the third period on another tough goal for Murray. Murray lost track of the puck after Duchene's shot, and Granlund batted the puck out of the air into the open net:
Aside from the tying goal, Murray was solid for the Penguins in the third period, turning away 20 of 21 shots, including this kick save on a strong backhand shot:
"They brought it pretty hard," Murray said. "They have a lot of good players. Their D do a good job of getting pucks to the net, and their forwards get bodies there, so they make it hard on you. That's what they did in the third. You have to give credit to them."
Mike Sullivan had praise for Murray's play through the game's momentum changes.
"I thought Matt was really good in the third," Sullivan said of Murray. "It seems like it's always a dangerous lead when you get up three goals that early in the game. There's so much hockey left. ... I thought Matt did a great job when Nashville pushed, in the third period in particular. ... He made some huge saves for us."
Moving forward, I still think this needs to primarily be Tristan Jarry's net, at least for the time being. But if Murray can play like he did in the third period of this game more often, he should at least see wins more frequently than every three weeks.
