Matt Murray had two impossibly tough acts to live up to: his own and Marc-Andre Fleury's.
While still technically a rookie, Murray won his second straight Stanley Cup. He had just turned 23.
How do you top that?
He soon learned that despite all the winning, he was never going to replace Fleury in the hearts of many. Maybe in the hearts of most. It wasn't Fleury's performance so much as his persona that enveloped Murray. Fleury was as beloved as any Penguin this side of Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby.
How do you compete with that?
I've often wondered if the shell Murray built around himself was partially the result of toiling in Fleury's enormous shadow. I wonder a lot of things about Murray, who leaves a complicated, enigmatic legacy upon his trade to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. He's still only 26.
We could go any which way in reacting to a deal that brought the Penguins the 52nd pick (a goalie who appeared to be 8 years old) and a prospect unbelievably named Jon Gruden (Jonathan, actually).
We could debate whether the return was enough. We could analyze Murray's decline and the Penguins' interesting decision to fire their entire coaching staff save for the man who presided over that decline _ goaltending coach Mike Buckley. We could talk about the future and whether we're sold on Tristan Jarry based on a few months of excellent hockey (I am, for myriad reasons).
But none of that feels appropriate, at least not as the main takeaway minutes after the trade. Not when we're talking about a man who helped turn this Penguins era from potentially disappointing to immensely satisfying.
Matt Murray should be remembered first, foremost and forever as a Stanley Cup hero. We'll never know what would have happened if he hadn't come along. My hunch is that the Crosby-Malkin Penguins might still be sitting here with one Cup and a million regrets.
Sure, it's possible Fleury would have finished the job in both 2016 and 2017. Murray actually did finish it. Either run could have gone south fast if not for his perfectly timed maestro performances.
He was hardly a passenger.
If you're a Penguins fan, you should never forget that after Fleury bombed in Game 5 of the '16 Eastern Conference final against Tampa Bay, Murray returned to the nets and won six of the next eight games. He stopped 44 of 47 shots in Games 6 and 7 against the Lightning, then posted a .920 save percentage in the Cup final against San Jose.
Likewise, you should never forget the game Murray stole against the Washington Capitals earlier in the '16 playoffs. Game 3. Remember? The series was tied 1-1. The Capitals walked into PPG Paints Arena and dominated the shorthanded Penguins, outshooting them 49-23.
The Penguins still won. The lead paragraph in the Associated Press account told why:
"Outhit, outshot and largely outplayed, Pittsburgh grabbed control of this Eastern Conference semifinal. Blame it on a 21-year-old rookie goaltender who hardly seems intimidated by the stakes. Matt Murray made 47 stops."
Murray won the next game, too, stopping 34 of 36. The Penguins won, 3-2, in overtime despite a makeshift defense that was missing Kris Letang.
You should never forget the '17 run, either. One could argue (I would) that Fleury did the heavy lifting by beating the Capitals, but he began to wobble in the Ottawa series. Murray stepped in with the Penguins down two games to one and stopped 104 of 110 shots the rest of the series, including 27 of 29 in the Game 7 double-overtime clincher, even as much of Pittsburgh wailed over the perceived unfairness of pulling Fleury.
Finally, you should never forget that after Nashville lit up Murray for nine goals in Games 3 and 4 to tie the '17 Cup final _ prompting cries for Fleury _ he responded with pure perfection, stopping all 51 Predators shots the next two games.
I'll hand it to the New York Times here, for its Cup-clinching Game 6 recap ...
"The Predators mounted a ferocious attack in the third but failed to score on a (32-second) two-man advantage. Murray stopped shot after shot, including one by Mike Fisher in a scramble in front with 10:40 left. Murray also stopped a breakaway by (Colton) Sissons and made several glove saves from close range."
Sidney Crosby delivered this reminder the night some fans mock-cheered Murray last season: "He's done a lot of great things for us."
He sure did. And even if Murray's performance declined, and even if this relationship, like so many, ended less than ideally, it's always best to remember the good times.
People will, I suspect, when Murray returns to Pittsburgh.
They should.
