Dunlap: Pens Must Ride Murray's Hot Streak
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) - Why would you mess with the type of success?
Why shake things up?
Why force a change when what's happening right now is working out just fine?
Why even contemplate it? I don't get it in the least.
Much of the water cooler talk in Pittsburgh offices lately has centered around the goaltender situation with the Pittsburgh Penguins. That said, much of the water cooler talk in Pittsburgh offices lately has centered around one simple question: When Marc-Andre Fleury is ready, does he immediately get reinstalled as the starting goalie, thus, sending Matt Murray --- no matter how piping hot --- back to the bench?
For me, no way.
Murray is the starter until he proves otherwise.
Murray is the starter until two forces come together --- he must have a subpar game and Fleury must prove he is 100 percent healthy and ready to resume those starting duties.
It can't be just one of those things, it must be both.
If Murray is still riding a boiling streak and Fleury all of a sudden announces he is totally fit to play, in this instance at least, I think it would perfectly fine for Fleury to remain on the bench.
That isn't generally the way it goes in sports, it isn't standard where a guy loses his job due to injury, but this is anything but a standard situation.
Oh, just the opposite.
This is a situation wherein a kid who won't be 22 until next month waltzed into the biggest situation in his life and has stolen the show.
While Fleury has attempted to battle back from his second concussion --- and who knows when he will be cleared --- Murray has proved to be a stabilizing force, turning aside shot after shot in what could be a deep Penguins playoff run.
I don't understand, for the life of me, how that could merit an automatic demotion when the former starter is ready.
Isn't it really this simple: The Penguins have won the last 10 games Matt Murray has started and finished --- I throw out that end-of-the-regular-season nonsense when he was injured against the Flyers and didn't finish the game.
That isn't opinion, that's not estimation or some approximation --- this team has won the last 10 times Matt Murray has been the man. That's the cold, hard truth.
I don't know what universe you live in, but in the one I reside, going away from a scorching streak like that until Murray plays his way out of that crease would be living in your proverbial fears.
Why in the world would you ever do that?
Who knows if, or when, the Penguins will be forced to make that Murray vs. Fleury decision.
All I know is this: A crashing together of circumstances has occurred where Matt Murray is the No. 1 guy for this hockey team. And it should take more than a healthy Fleury to change that.
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can email him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.