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Pittsburgh Penguins’ Round One MVPs

By Kayleigh Jackson

Apr 23, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray (30) and center Sidney Crosby (87) and defenseman Kris Letang (58) celebrate after defeating the New York Rangers 6-3 in game five of the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 23, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray (30) and center Sidney Crosby (87) and defenseman Kris Letang (58) celebrate after defeating the New York Rangers 6-3 in game five of the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 23, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray (30) guards the net against the New York Rangers during the second period in game five of the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Penguins won 6-3 to take the series 4 games to 1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 23, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray (30) guards the net against the New York Rangers during the second period in game five of the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Penguins won 6-3 to take the series 4 games to 1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

The Goalie Tandem

Matt Murray obviously saved the Pens’ bacon when he came back into the lineup, but they couldn’t have had such a strong start if it wasn’t for the play of Jeff Zatkoff in the opener.

While Murray went 3-0 and Zatkoff was 1-1 in the first round, you can’t really blame that loss on him entirely. The Pens entirely imploded during game two, and while he may have wanted one or two of those goals back his team mostly hung him out to dry.

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The fact that the Penguins had two goalies make their playoff debuts in one series – and win both those debuts – is phenomenal. While Murray is obviously going to be Marc-Andre Fleury‘s backup or maybe even equal down the road rather than Zatkoff, that’s a great stat to have under our belt.

Fleury is still experiencing concussion symptoms, but there’s little reason to worry about the playoffs if he remains out through some or all of the next round. Murray allowed only four goals in the three playoff games he started, even picking up a shutout in game four.

Even on days when he’s a little behind the puck, it seems that the forwards are strong enough to pick up the slack. Though Murray was a key factor in getting through to round two so quickly, the Pens couldn’t have done it without Zatkoff either.

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