Pittsburgh Penguins: Revisiting High-Save Performances

On February 11, 2019, Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray turned away 50 shots from the Philadelphia Flyers and set a career high for himself.

With a stoic 50 save performance against the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 11, Matt Murray joined former Pittsburgh Penguins goaltenders Tom Barrasso, Jeff Zatkoff, Frank Pietrangelo and Ty Conklin as goaltenders that faced 50 or more shots during a regular season contest.

Here is a look back at five regular season games where the Penguins goaltenders faced a firing squad and endured some serious lapses in defense.

The Old Guard

Frank Pietrangelo – 50 Saves

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A season before Pietrangelo made “The Save” and propelled Pittsburgh towards claiming their first Stanley Cup Championship, the Montreal Canadiens systematically dismantled the future cup winner in an 11-1 drubbing on February 24, 1990.

While not the worst game in Penguins history, it certainly holds a spot near the top. Pietrangelo faced 61 shots and was in net for all 11 goals.

Sixteen Montreal players registered one point or more. Guy Carbonneau and Russ Courtnall each collected four points and Courtnall also led the team in shots putting 11 on goal.

Phil Bourque provided the only offense for Pittsburgh when he spoiled Patrick Roy‘s shutout bid early in the third period.

Tom Barrasso – 57 Saves

Given that Barrasso joined the Penguins at the height of the “Barnburner” era of the NHL, it’s hard to fathom that he was called upon to make 40 or more saves 15 times during his 12-year, 460 game stint with Pittsburgh.

Barrasso broke the 50-save barrier twice with the Penguins, including this 57 save performance on March 12, 1989, vs. Chicago Blackhawks.

Chicago had two players register double-digit shot totals‍‍‍, Dave Mason (11), and Steve Konroyd (10) and three players register over five shots, Adam Creighton, Jeremy Roenick and Doug Wilson each threw 7 shots on Barrasso.

Pittsburgh took the game by a score of 6-5, as special teams played a huge role in the contest as the teams combined for 58 minutes in penalties. The game also featured a tour-de-force performance from Mario Lemieux, who factored in on all six Penguins goals (3 goals, 3 assists).

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An Old Friend

Marc-Andre Fleury – 47 Saves

While Fleury never eclipsed the 50 save mark while a member of the Penguins, Fleury played in 27-games where he faced 40 or more shots, reaching the apex of his save total (47) with the team on October 10, 2008, a 2-1 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils.

Although Pittsburgh ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard, Fleury surely provided the Penguins with every opportunity to grab two-points and claim the victory.

Of the 49 shots Fleury faced, 24 came from the trio of Patrick Elias (10), Zach Parise (8) and Brian Rolston (6). Elias spoiled Fleury’s shutout bid with less than three minutes left in the third period.

Parise secured the victory for the Devils at the 4:22 mark of the overtime period, and sent the home team to the locker room with a losers point.

New Wave

Casey DeSmith – 48 Saves

During the course of DeSmith’s 45 games with the Penguins, the month of December 2018, could be considered the most productive month of his career to this point.

DeSmith made 10 starts during the month and claimed 7 victories. In three of his appearances, the Penguins surrender 40 or more shots.

The good news is DeSmith and the Penguins escaped with victories on all three occasions, including the December 18, 2018 tilt vs. the Boston Bruins. The Penguins and Bruins carried a 3-3 tie to the mid-way mark of their period where Jake Guentzel put the game-winning-goal past Jaroslav Halak.

By the time the buzzer sounded at the end of the game, the Penguins had surrendered 51 shots and secured a slim 5-3 victory. DeSmith made 48 saves in the game, which included multiple shots from Chris Wagner (9), David Pastrnak (7) & Jakob Forbacka Karlsson (5).

Jeff Zatkoff – 50 saves

Just 6-months prior to earning the moniker “Mr. Game-One”, the last thing on Zatkoff mind during this early season battle was a trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He was far too occupied facing the barrage of hardened rubber that was coming his way via the Buffalo Sabres roster.

All 18 Sabres skaters registered at least one shot on goal, with Jack Eichel (8), Jamie McGinn (6) and Rasmussen Ristolainen (5) doing the majority of the heavy lifting for Buffalo.

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While Pittsburgh carried a healthy 4-2 lead into the latter stages of the 3rd period, a late goal from Matt Moulson and Kris Letang delay of game penalty forced Zatkoff and the rest of the Penguins to batten down the hatches to protect the narrow one-goal margin. Pittsburgh escaped with a slim 4-3 victory and Zatkoff finished the game with 50 saves.

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