PITTSBURGH (AP) – Matt Murray watched the Pittsburgh Penguins’ second-round collapse against the New York Rangers from afar two years ago, the wispy goaltender still a teenage prospect in the spring of 2014 as a 3-1 series lead morphed into a franchise-altering meltdown.
The view is far different this time around for the 21-year-old with the patchy playoff beard and the preternatural calm. The 3-1 advantage Pittsburgh takes into Saturday’s Game 5 (3 p.m. EDT, NBC) has as much to do with the rookie’s steadiness while filling in for injured Marc-Andre Fleury as it does the performances of the bold-faced names in front of him.
Murray is perhaps the most visible rookie making an impact during the postseason, but not the only one. Teammates Conor Sheary and Tom Kuhnhackl have given the Penguins a needed dose of youth and speed at forward. Artemi Panarin is helping keep the Chicago Blackhawks’ season alive while Robby Fabbri and Colton Parayko are looking to get St. Louis beyond the opening round for only the third time since 2003.
Murray stopped 47 of the 48 shots he faced in the first two postseason starts of his blossoming NHL career, ultimately one-sided victories in Games 3 and 4 at Madison Square Garden in which he outplayed Rangers star Henrik Lundqvist.
It’s pretty heady territory for a kid from Thunder Bay, Ontario, who was in middle school when Lundqvist started winning playoff games. Just don’t expect Murray to do much introspection on what it all means. That’s simply not what he does.