Pittsburgh Penguins have a great problem between the pipes

The Pittsburgh Penguins goaltending has done a 180 turn and is now one of their greatest strengths.

Early in the season, the Pittsburgh Penguins had some goaltending issues. Matt Murray’s performance over the first two months of the 2018-19 season was disappointing. There were far more questions than answers surrounding Murray moving forward. He struggled with inconsistency and injuries. Backup goalie Casey DeSmith played at a high level in Murray’s absence.

Since returning to game action on December 15th, he has answered those questions. Murray is 6-0-0 with a .955 save percentage since coming back. That pace is not sustainable and it is a small sample size. However, Murray’s mobility looks smoother, he’s taking away opposing shooters angles, and he’s now anticipating passes and shots prior to the puck arriving in the blue paint.

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He has proven to be best when in a platoon situation. Marc-Andre Fleury was still a Penguin when Pittsburgh won their back-to-back titles. With Fleury behind him, Murray had to maintain an adequate level of performance to keep the starting role.

It was a healthy competition. Considering Murray’s injury history, a platoon, with Murray seeing a slight majority of the starts, is likely the best case scenario for the Penguins this season.

Of the 47 goaltenders that have played 600 minutes this season, DeSmith ranks eighth in both goals save above replacement (7.42) and high-danger save percentage (.864%). He is twelfth in even strength save percentage (.932 %).

DeSmith is having a wonderful season and has consistently performed at a higher level than proven netminders such as Henrik Lundqvist and Carey Price. I recognize Murray’s accomplishments and potential, but you can not ignore his backup’s performance. DeSmith should start 15 to 20 of the Penguins remaining 42 games.

Murray is climbing the statistical ranks. Upon his return, his all-situations save percentage has skyrocketed from .883 to .908. Murray’s even-strength save percentage is up to .918. That ranks 28th amongst NHL netminders and is slightly ahead of Fleury and the “all-star” Devan Dubnyk. All of a sudden, Murray is nearly on the positive end of the spectrum in terms of goals saved above average, as he currently sits at -0.53. That is a huge improvement from where Murray was at in November and early December.

The biggest difference between Murray and DeSmith this season is their ability to prevent opponents from scoring on high-danger chances such as breakaways and odd-man rushes. There is a 6% difference between them here and Murray is sandwiched between Darcy Keumper and James Reimer in this category. If he can continue to play at league average, he will climb the ranks here as well.

Based on DeSmith’s performance, Murray’s injury history, and Murray’s performance in a goaltending platoon earlier in his career, that is the best-case scenario for these Penguins moving forward. Having two netminders playing at a high level is a tremendous “problem” to have. Goaltending has been the driving force behind the team’s seven-game win streak.

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Here’s to hoping the Murray and DeSmith combination ends the season in the same fashion that Murray and Fleury did in 2017.

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