BUFFALO, N.Y. _ Mike Sullivan and the Penguins have been waiting for one of their goalies _ one a two-time Stanley Cup winner and the other an All-Star this season _ to step up and seize the starting gig during their playoff push.
With a month left in the regular season, the former might finally be doing that.
Matt Murray was back between the pipes in Buffalo after he stopped 23 of 26 shots in Tuesday's 7-3 win over Ottawa. It was the first time Sullivan gave a goalie consecutive starts since Murray played two in a row Feb. 2 and Feb. 6.
Given how well Murray played in Thursday's 4-2 win over the Sabres at KeyBank Center, especially during a sloppy second period for the Penguins, Sullivan should make it three starts in a row Saturday against the Washington Capitals.
Murray made 10 saves, some spectacular, in that second period. He made a pair of sliding saves on point-blank one-timers, the second one off the stick of Jimmy Vesey on a 2-on-0, to keep their 2-1 lead intact. After Patric Hornqvist pushed it to 3-1 with the second of his two goals, Murray robbed Wayne Simmonds.
The Penguins want their goaltending dilemma to be resolved organically on the ice. While neither Murray nor Jarry has been lousy lately, neither staked a claim to the starting job by stringing together a few quality starts in a row.
They each started three games during the team's recent six-game losing streak. Murray posted a .849 save percentage in his starts. Jarry was at .850 in his.
But Murray has picked up his play the past two games. He was solid against the Senators, giving up two of their three goals in garbage time. And then he was exceptional against the Sabres. Their first goal came on a breakaway. The second was on a tricky shot from the slot. He finished with 28 saves in the win.
The Penguins got off to a fast start against the Sabres before sputtering out.
Nick Bjugstad returned to the lineup after missing 46 games following core muscle surgery in mid-November. He literally made an impact on one of his first shifts. Driving the net, he got nudged into Jonas Johansson by one of the Sabres. With Bjugstad on top of the goalie, Hornqvist poked the puck over the goal line.
The Sabres responded about a minute later with a short-handed goal. Bryan Rust coughed up the puck at the Buffalo blue line and Jake McCabe buried the ensuing breakaway. That came a day after the Penguins spent part of practice working on power-play zone entries. They might want to work on them again Friday.
Still in the first period, Rust zipped into the zone then sent a pass back to Marcus Pettersson, who blasted his second goal of the season from the point.
Murray kept the Penguins on top with his stellar play in the second period, which the Sabres dominated. That power-play goal by Hornqvist with 6:28 left in the second was the team's first shot on goal that period. Evgeni Malkin, who had two assists Thursday, made a nifty play behind the net to set up Hornqvist.
Early in the third period, former Penguins winger Dominik Kahun set up Marcus Johansson in the slot. Johansson whizzed a shot past Murray's blocker. But Sidney Crosby, who had three points Tuesday against the Senators, buried a backhander to restore their two-goal lead and take some steam out of the Sabres.
Murray punctuated his performance by stuffing Zemgus Girgensons and Sabres All-Star center Jack Eichel on the doorstep with about seven minutes left.
The Penguins had lost both of their previous games against the Sabres this season. That included a 5-2 loss at PPG Paints Arena on Feb. 22, two days before they traded Kahun to the Sabres for Conor Sheary and Evan Rodrigues.
The Penguins have a big weekend coming up. They host the Capitals on Saturday then the Carolina Hurricanes in the second half of a back-to-back on Sunday. They are jostling with those two Metropolitan Division rivals for playoff position.
Sullivan will likely give each goalie a start, as he typically does for back-to-backs. If it is indeed Murray in the crease Saturday, that will certainly say something about which direction Sullivan is leaning towards with 16 games left to go.
