WASHINGTON -- Matt Murray has had lots of games when he allowed fewer goals than he did during the Penguins' 4-3 victory over the Capitals Sunday at Capital One Arena.
There have been plenty in which he finished with more than 29 saves, too.
But there haven't been all that many in which Murray's had a greater impact on an outcome than he did in this one.
Oh, he isn't the only reason the Penguins got the better of Washington in their first meeting of 2019-20, but he was the biggest.
"He was spectacular," Jack Johnson said. "Spectacular."
Murray was chosen as the game's No. 1 star, and it's unlikely that anyone would have protested if he'd been recognized as Nos. 2 and 3, as well.
"I thought Matt was terrific," Mike Sullivan said. "He made some big stops, especially in the third period. His rebound control was strong. I thought he was tracking the puck really well. He played a really strong game for us."
Murray was most busy -- and did his best work -- during the final 20 minutes, when the Capitals dominated play and launched 13 shots on goal as part of a furious surge to overcome a 3-1 deficit.
"In the third, we were all over them," Capitals center Lars Eller said.
Eller was Washington's most visible -- and productive -- forward on this day, scoring his team's first and third goals.
But while he was shooting 2-for-2 from the field, his teammates got only one of their other 30 shots past Murray, who thwarted the Capitals on everything from a Garnet Hathaway uncontested shot from in front of the net about 2 1/2 minutes into the opening period to an Evgeny Kuznetsov deflection about 13 minutes later to a Jakub Vrana breakaway early in the second period.
To say nothing of a series of game-saving stops when Washington put the Penguins on their heels -- and almost their backs -- during the third.
"He made some huge saves all night," Sidney Crosby said. "Early on, they had some good looks and obviously in the third there, when they pressed, (Murray) made some huge saves. It was the difference in the game for us."
That difference is why the Penguins are just four points behind the first-place Capitals in the Metropolitan Division.
They have a realistic shot at winning the divisional title, especially since they own a game-in-hand and will play Washington three more times during the regular season. And while finishing first in the Metropolitan isn't atop their to-do list at the moment, they recognize that doing it would have some inherent benefits.
Like having Game 7 in any playoff series against Washington this spring contested at PPG Paints Arena rather than Capital One Arena.
"I don't think this organization is big on hanging division banners," Johnson said, before adding that "we want to win as many games as possible to give ourselves a chance to play for the Stanley Cup."
Mind you, the Penguins' next-game-up mentality -- a corollary to the next-man-up mindset that has served them so well -- assures that winning the division won't be a fixture in locker-room discussions anytime soon.
"We're really not talking about that," Sullivan said. "That's not part of the conversation right now. We have so much hockey in front of us. We're just trying to get better every day."
Getting more out of their power play, which went 0-for-6 and became increasingly ineffective as the game moved along, is one obvious area to improve, but they also have to be concerned about their inability to protect leads in the third period.
Friday night, Philadelphia rallied from two goals down before the Penguins claimed a victory in overtime, and only some stellar work by Murray prevented Washington from matching -- or surpassing -- what the Flyers did.
"They had us kind of running around a little bit," Murray said.
Yeah, kinda. If the Penguins had been forced to do any more running around in their end of the ice during the final period, they should have swapped their skates for track spikes.
"In the third, we gave ourselves a chance," Washington coach Todd Reirden said.
Part of the reason the Capitals didn't make the most of their opportunities was that Alex Ovechkin, who had 11 goals in the previous five games, was far less of a force than he normally is when facing the Penguins. He tied for the team lead with four shots on goal, but whiffed on a few scoring chances and finished without a point.
"He's not easy to contain," Sullivan said. "It was a team effort."
One guy who was far more conspicuous than Ovechkin on this day was Tom Wilson. He was credited with 13 hits -- that was just 11 fewer than the entire Penguins team -- and seemed to jump-start his teammates with a particularly rambunctious shift early in the third.
Although the Penguins downplayed the effect Wilson had on them -- "We've got a team that plays with a lot of courage," Sullivan said. "We're going to take hits to make plays. That's part of the game." -- he accounted for nine of Washington's 22 third-period hits, and clearly set an example the Capitals followed.
And just might have provided a template for how they will approach future games with the Penguins.
"We just have to play the whole game like we did in the third, with physicality and determination," Eller said. "And we'll be fine."
Maybe, but the Penguin now have had a reminder of what they can expect on a regular basis for the next two months.
"This is the kind of games we're going to see from here on in, the emotion and intensity," Crosby said. "Playoff mentality. We have to earn every point we're going to get."
And perhaps, every now and then, have their goalie grab one or two for them, as well.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE INJURIES
• Nick Bjugstad (core muscle surgery)
• Brian Dumoulin (ankle surgery)
• Jake Guentzel (shoulder surgery)
• Dominik Kahun (concussion)
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
McCann-Crosby-Simon
Rust-Malkin-Hornqvist
Aston-Reese-Blueger-Tanev
Galchenyuk-Lafferty-Angello
Johnson-Letang
Pettersson-Marino
Ruhwedel-Schultz
And for Todd Reirden's Capitals:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Hagelin-Eller-Panik
Leipsic-Dowd-Hathaway
Kempny-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
Siebenthaler-Gudas
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins are scheduled to fly to Tampa Monday morning and practice in suburban Brandon at 1 p.m. Their next game will be against the Lightning Thursday at 7:08 p.m. at Amalie Arena.
THE COVERAGE
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PHOTO GALLERY
Penguins vs. Capitals, Feb. 2, 2020, Washington. - AP / GETTY