The previous games between the Penguins and Senators this year haven’t been short of goals. The first matchup saw Ottawa score six times and the second matchup saw the Penguins score six times. Last night wasn’t short of scoring chances, but both goaltenders were strong. Matt Murray and Casey DeSmith have had some rocky times this season. DeSmith’s play hasn’t been close to where it was last season and Matt Murray was so bad the Senators sent him to the AHL. Last night they were both great.
Casey DeSmith went 26 for 26 to earn the shutout. He has stopped 56 out of his last 58 shots. In a year where he has consistently put up some bad outings the team getting two quality starts in a row is much needed. If he makes it three in a row the Penguins might actually be able to properly rest Tristan Jarry.
Former Penguins Matt Murray has had a rough go of things in recent years. The start to his year included his AHL demotion. It paints quite a negative impression, but Murray’s season hasn’t been that bad. If you can believe it after last night he is a .920 goalie in 15 starts. He’s still got a ways to go to prove he is over his funk, but this is a nice step in the right direction for a goalie who was lights out in back to back Stanley Cup championships.
Sidney Crosby did not earn goal #500 in front of and empty arena and the feint sounds of mac trucks. He did make a game saving block spreading down to the ice late in the game to help preserve Casey DeSmith’s shutout. He ended up earning an assist on Bryan Rust’s empty net goal, which for Rust was his fourth game in a row scoring.
Jeff Carter scored the lone goal for the Penguins against Murray. It was a strong quick release. The kind of shot Carter has made a career out of.
A big goal from Big Jeff Carter! 1-0, good guys. pic.twitter.com/dwvR9tc4o7
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 11, 2022
Game winning goals are kind of a wonky stat, but if you have a ton of game winning goals it means you’ve scored a ton of goals. Jeff Carter is #2 among active players
Jeff Carter's tally tonight stood as the game-winning goal, the 86th of his career. Only Alex Ovechkin (119) has more game-winning goals among active players than Carter. pic.twitter.com/wcK6LSqdfD
— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) February 11, 2022
I want to give a shout out to Radim Zohorna who has acclimated himself nicely to the NHL in his limited time. In his 88 minutes this year he has an xGF% of 64.73. In 152 career minutes his xGF% is 56.42. His points per 60 has been a solid 1.97 (it is lower this year at 1.36). The sample sizes aren’t as big as he is, but he is 25 years old and it is almost a now or never kind of thing if he wants to stick in the NHL. The Penguins don’t have a lot of interesting AHL options and Zohorna is probably the best they have at the moment. With the Penguins looking for cap space moving forward I can definitely see a path to moving on from Zach Aston-Reese’s 1.7M and having someone like Zohorna plug the hole on the fourth line. I’m not enamored paying 1.7M for no offense. I personally think defensive metrics as currently constructed might overrate the abilities of some of these players. Aston-Reese being a prime example.
Crosby’s chase for #500 continues on the road in New Jersey on Sunday afternoon before the Super Bowl. Evgeni Malkin is also cleared to return to the lineup.
Thanks for reading!