ALLENTOWN - The legend of 20-year-old Penguins goaltender Matt Murray continues to grow even crazier and more improbable. He notched his 24th win, and his league-leading 12th shutout in a 3-0 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday night at the PPL Center.
That win effectively knocked the Phantoms out of the playoff race, and punched the Penguins' ticket to the Calder Cup playoffs for the thirteenth straight season. Most of this run for Wilkes-Barre Scranton has been on the back of Murray, who, according to AHL PR, has amassed 13 wins in 15 games with a 0.80 goals-against average and a .970 save percentage since February 3.
Rookie Kasperi Kapanen got the party started for the Penguins early, scoring his first pro goal on his first pro shot about five minutes into the contest. Kapanen, son of former Flyer Sami, intercepted a Petr Straka pass at the blue line and ripped a shot over the glove of Phantoms starter Rob Zepp.
Zepp, making his eighth straight start, suffered his third straight loss after stopping 29 shots.
Murray held the fort against an impressive Phantoms foray in the first period. His best stop came on Andrew Gordon, who took a Taylor Leier pass on the goal line. He also denied that first line on a late flurry of action, and got a little lucky when Scott Laughton just missed the target on a clear-cut shorthanded chance with four seconds left.
As impressive as the Phantoms were in the first period, the second period was all Penguins. They outshot the homestanding Phantoms 20-6 in the middle frame. Those numbers were aided by four Penguins power plays, including a 5-on-3 power play opportunity, and an extended man advantage thanks to a Jay Rosehill double minor penalty.
"Those numbers add up pretty quickly," head coach Terry Murray said. "I don't want [penalties] to haunt us for the remaining six games."
"We need to show better composure in those situations."
The Penguins connected during the Rosehill series of penalties. Kapanen, the first star of the game, dished a shot pass from the left wing, finding the stick of Tom Kuhnackl to tap the puck past Zepp. It proved to be one of two tallies by the German forward, who put the game away with a late empty net goal.
Up 2-0 after two periods of play, the Penguins turned to their frustrating style of defense. That defensive structure has led to a 29-2-2 record when leading after the second period coming into the contest.
Agonizing defense aside, the Phantoms ended the game with 30 total shots on goal, and 11 in the third period. But to the players' admission, the chances needed an extra element—traffic.
"We had 30 shots, but I think we gotta create five or seven more rebound opportunities off of those 30 by getting guys in the dirtier areas and finding a way to sort of bang home an ugly [goal]," Phantoms forward Andrew Gordon said.
"It was up to par. It needs to be better," Murray said of his team getting to said dirty areas. "When you're playing against one of the the premier goalies, maybe the premier goalie in the league, you've gotta be better. Average is not good enough."
Now out of the playoff picture, the Phantoms still have six games left this season, with all of them against divisional opponents.
"You have to build on something," Murray said. "You have to build on your game, to take to it to training camp, to take it into next year. That's what his is all about."
"We got a bunch of young guys that need to continue to stay focused and just play. Play hard, competitive hockey. Play between the whistles, and go from there."
The march to April 19, and to a brighter tomorrow, begins Friday, when the Phantoms welcome the Norfolk Admirals to town for a back-to-back.
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