Matt Murray will continue to start in net for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Down the ice, the Bolts have their own youthful goaltender in net. Who will prevail?
Matt Murray has been the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ go-to goalie since Marc-Andre Fleury got hurt in late March, and he’s now cemented his place in the lineup even with Fleury healthy. He’s 7-3 in the playoffs this year and has made quite a few highlight reel saves during that time.
This afternoon, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan announced that Murray would get the start tomorrow in game two against the Tampa Bay Lightning. That was to be expected, really, but it’s amazing to see how much faith the coaching staff and team has in the twenty one year old goalie.
The expected goaltending matchup for this series was Murray against Ben Bishop. However, Bishop was injured in the first game and is listed as day-to-day. In the meantime, Andrei Vasilevskiy has taken over the crease.
Like Murray, Vasilevskiy is only twenty one. He’s also 6’3″ compared to Murray’s 6’4″, but both use their size as an advantage. He’s got a bit more experience in the NHL, having backed up Bishop last season as well and making a few playoff appearances when the starter struggled. His NHL stats are pretty good, but Murray’s are better.
(Yes, I know this is a biased look at the stats. Murray’s played fewer games and so the save percentages aren’t as meaningful. But this is how I choose to look at it because a .930 is better than a .910 and I’m a little petty.)
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Murray never saw action against the Bolts in the regular season, though the Penguins went a dismal 0-3 against this strong Tampa team. Meanwhile, Vasilevskiy is 2-0 in his career appearances against Pittsburgh. Well, counting game one of this series, 3-0.
It’s hard to say Vasilevskiy is a downgrade from Bishop at all, just as it would be difficult to call Murray a backup any longer. Both goalies are talented and have long careers ahead of them. It’s easy to see what both would gain from winning this series for their team and leading them to the Cup final.
Both also have another season left on their entry-level contract after this one, so it’s not exactly a do-or-die career year for either one. Murray and Vasilevskiy will likely be integral parts of their respective teams’ futures down the road.
Last round, the Washington Capitals eventually figured out Murray’s weakness – shoot high, and you’ve got a much better chance to score than anywhere else. It took them a few games to feel the young goalie out and realize this. It may take us the same amount of time to scout Vasilevskiy’s weaknesses.
The Capitals obviously lost that series, but things got much closer when they found that Achilles Heel. It’s no stretch to think that this series will go to six or seven games, and the Pens could come out on top. Heck, it’s only been one game so far, and it was chaos.
Next: Penguins: What We Learned From Game One
If the Penguins are more careful with their passing and can just sustain pressure on Vasilevskiy, things will start to go right. He, like Murray, is capable of stealing games thanks to miraculous saves. But he’s also human. A fairly young one.
If you pressure him enough, he’ll make a mistake. So, Pens, you should do that.