Photo by Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The goal crease is the perfect place to look to figure out why the Pittsburgh Penguins are headed to Nashville with a 2-0 stranglehold in the Stanley Cup Final.Quite simply, goaltending is the biggest reason why Pittsburgh is two wins away from taking its second straight Cup. Through Games 1 and 2 against the Predators, rookie (yes, rookie) goalie Matt Murray has stopped 60 of 64 shots he's faced and has held down the fort while the Penguins have fallen asleep for large chunks of the series—including a record stretch of 37 minutes without a shot in Game 1.
Most importantly, Murray has outplayed counterpart Pekka Rinne, and it hasn't even been close. Rinne has had difficulties, to say the least, with the Penguins stop-and go-offence, allowing 4 goals on just 11 shots in Game 1, and stopping just 21 of 25 and getting the hook in Game 2. Through the first couple of games, the Predators have outshot the Penguins 64-39 but have been outscored 9-4, allowing the Penguins to tangle the twine on an outrageous 23.08 percent of their shots.As Rinne has been unable to plug holes at the one end, Murray's been a wall at the other, posting a GAA of 2.01 and a save percentage of .938 against Nashville, despite facing more medium-danger-area and high-danger area shots than the large Fin in Nashville's crease. Since Murray's first start of the playoffs in Game 4 against Ottawa, he's posted a 5-1 record with a .943 save percentage and microscopic 1.56 goals against average, proving head coach Mike Sullivan's hunch to replace Marc-Andre Fleury with Murray to be the right move at the perfect time.It's not only his numbers and dominating play that warrants Sullivan's brash decision to replace the veteran Fleury, who was playing some of the best hockey of his career, with a young goaltender who missed the majority of the first three rounds of the playoffs with an injury. Murray's demeanor and calmness in the crease is providing stability to a Penguins team that was down 2-1 to the Senators, had nothing clicking on offence, and looked frantic in its own end. The way in which Murray minimizes his movement in the net, along with superior rebound control and angle play have allowed his teammates to relax knowing that a nail-biting, scramble-fest probably won't ensue in their end if they have a breakdown at the other, like it so often did with Fleury. The confidence the young Murray instills is invaluable to the veteran-laden Penguins.
At just 23 years old, the rookie is doing things in the crease that have rarely been done in the league. The victory in Game 2 was the 20th win of his young playoff career, a milestone he reached in just 27 decisions. Only Hall of Famers Bill Durnan (1944-47), Patrick Roy (1986-88), and Grant Fuhr (1982-85) have reached 20 playoff wins in 27 starts or fewer. Murray also has a chance to be the first starting goaltender to ever lead his team to two Stanley Cups as a rookie, which he's still considered to be since he started under 25 games during last year's regular season.The decision to hand the keys to Murray continues to pay dividends for goalie, coach, team, and city, as Pittsburgh appears well on its way to becoming the first club to win back-to-back Stanley Cups in nearly 20 seasons.
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Most importantly, Murray has outplayed counterpart Pekka Rinne, and it hasn't even been close. Rinne has had difficulties, to say the least, with the Penguins stop-and go-offence, allowing 4 goals on just 11 shots in Game 1, and stopping just 21 of 25 and getting the hook in Game 2. Through the first couple of games, the Predators have outshot the Penguins 64-39 but have been outscored 9-4, allowing the Penguins to tangle the twine on an outrageous 23.08 percent of their shots.As Rinne has been unable to plug holes at the one end, Murray's been a wall at the other, posting a GAA of 2.01 and a save percentage of .938 against Nashville, despite facing more medium-danger-area and high-danger area shots than the large Fin in Nashville's crease. Since Murray's first start of the playoffs in Game 4 against Ottawa, he's posted a 5-1 record with a .943 save percentage and microscopic 1.56 goals against average, proving head coach Mike Sullivan's hunch to replace Marc-Andre Fleury with Murray to be the right move at the perfect time.It's not only his numbers and dominating play that warrants Sullivan's brash decision to replace the veteran Fleury, who was playing some of the best hockey of his career, with a young goaltender who missed the majority of the first three rounds of the playoffs with an injury. Murray's demeanor and calmness in the crease is providing stability to a Penguins team that was down 2-1 to the Senators, had nothing clicking on offence, and looked frantic in its own end. The way in which Murray minimizes his movement in the net, along with superior rebound control and angle play have allowed his teammates to relax knowing that a nail-biting, scramble-fest probably won't ensue in their end if they have a breakdown at the other, like it so often did with Fleury. The confidence the young Murray instills is invaluable to the veteran-laden Penguins.
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At just 23 years old, the rookie is doing things in the crease that have rarely been done in the league. The victory in Game 2 was the 20th win of his young playoff career, a milestone he reached in just 27 decisions. Only Hall of Famers Bill Durnan (1944-47), Patrick Roy (1986-88), and Grant Fuhr (1982-85) have reached 20 playoff wins in 27 starts or fewer. Murray also has a chance to be the first starting goaltender to ever lead his team to two Stanley Cups as a rookie, which he's still considered to be since he started under 25 games during last year's regular season.The decision to hand the keys to Murray continues to pay dividends for goalie, coach, team, and city, as Pittsburgh appears well on its way to becoming the first club to win back-to-back Stanley Cups in nearly 20 seasons.