SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The same refrain could be heard throughout MassMutual Center time and time again.
“Save by Murray!”
It’s the same phrase that the Springfield Falcons have heard 148 times over the past year and half.
“Save by Murray!”
It might even be heard years from now, a haunting echo in the halls of a future MassMutual Center.
“Save by Murray!”
Matt Murray made 38 saves Friday night, continuing his dominance of the Springfield franchise as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins beat the Falcons 5-0 on Friday night.
In five career starts against Springfield, Murray is 5-0-0-0, posting four shutouts, a 0.20 goals against average, and a .993 save percentage.
Both Murray and Falcons’ goalie Louis Domingue kept each other’s foes scoreless through the first twenty minutes, as both teams combined for 28 shots on goal (17-11 in favor of Springfield) in the first period.
Derrick Pouliot kept the Penguins’ power play hot with a redirected slap shot that fooled Louis Domingue to put Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the 1-0 lead at 4:41 of the second frame.
Tom Kostopoulos, playing in his 483rd game for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, earned the lone assist on Pouliot’s go-ahead goal, and then added a power play goal of his own to make it 2-0 for the Penguins by tipping a Scott Wilson shot behind Domingue with 45 seconds remaining in the second period.
Following the Penguins’ two goals on the man advantage on Friday, the team had converted on seven of its nine power play chances during the second periods of its last three games.
The Penguins’ power play finished the game two-for-five, moving to nine-for-24 on the season (37.5%).
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tacked on three goals to its total in the final 2:23 of regulation, including two empty netters. The Penguins final three goals were scored by Scott Wilson (EN), Matia Marcantuoni (EN), and Dominik Simon.
Tim Erixon, playing his first game in the Penguins organization, ended up with an assist on Simon’s goal that came with 46 seconds left in the contest.
The result of Friday’s game improves Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to 4-1-0-0, while dropping Springfield to 0-4-0-0.
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