In Anaheim Wednesday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Matt Murray returned from a hand injury suffered in the World Cup of Hockey and made 32 saves in a 5-1 thumping of the Ducks.
Penguins goalie Matthew Murray – File Photo by Jack Lima
“I think my job was pretty easy tonight,” said Murray, 22, who was 15-6 with a 2.08 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs to help the Penguins win the Cup. “The team played extremely well. I had enough in-tight battles and stuff like that to test my hand in a game situation, and it felt really good.”
Evgeni Malkin, Matt Cullen, Bryan Rust, Kris Letang, and Patric Hornqvist all scored for the Pens.
“We were playing well. It was 2-0 before they scored that goal,” Letang said. “We knew we had the momentum, and they caught us with a long shift on the penalty kill and scored. We came back right where we left off after they scored.”
Cam Fowler was the lone goal scorer for the Ducks.
The Ducks have two straight at home by a combined score of 9-1.
“That’s what we’re just banging our head against the wall over right now,” Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. “We’re looking at it and saying, ‘Why, why, why?’ and the answer to it isn’t right at the tip of my tongue. I wish I had that answer.”
John Gibson made 29 saves before being pulled in favor of Jonathan Bernier.
“They’re Stanley Cup champions for a reason. They’re a really good team. I thought we had a really good first period. We just gave them too many chances. At the end of the day, we loosened up and they made us pay,” the Ducks’ Andrew Cogliano said after the game.
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