Pekka Rinne was so bad in the first two games of the Stanley Cup final, some thought he should be replaced by a 22-year old who's never started a playoff game. Now, Rinne is back to being the toast of Nashville. Predators coach Peter Laviolette is being heaped with praise for staying the course and sticking with his man.
Mike Sullivan should take the same approach leading up to Game 5.
There's no need to panic and no need for severe lineup changes. There certainly is no need for a goaltender change.
The Penguins' playoff record over the past two seasons with Matt Murray in goal is 20-9. He's the starter for a reason. If Sullivan wants to start Marc-Andre Fleury to shake things up, OK, whatever. Fleury also is a great goaltender who has won a lot of playoff games. He clearly is capable. That move isn't necessary, though. It would smell of desperation, and Sullivan and the Penguins are not desperate.
Murray is fine. He didn't play a bad game Monday. The Predators' third goal, a breakaway by Viktor Arvidsson, was on a shot that championship goaltenders need to make. It was a critical time, with the Penguins trailing 2-1. Murray didn't make the save, but that isn't why the Penguins lost. They lost because Rinne played an outstanding game. Despite generating a number of quality scoring chances, they couldn't put the puck past Rinne.
If we're going to start talking about benching players, there are better candidates. Murray is paid to stop goals; Phil Kessel is paid to score them _ and he's paid a lot more than Murray. Kessel has gone six games in a row without scoring a goal. He has one goal in the Penguins' past nine games and just two in the past 13. He has registered just one assist in four Stanley Cup final games.
That's how silly this can get. Sullivan would be dumb to bench Kessel, and he wouldn't. Kessel is one of the team's best players. He's capable of busting out of his scoring slump at any point. The same can be said about Murray. He's proven he's a great player. He has had a couple of tough games but has the ability to bounce back from tough games. It isn't time for the Penguins to panic, it's simply time for them, and Murray, to regroup and play their game.
