Matt Murray should start for Penguins until he screws something u

PITTSBURGH Marc-Andre Fleury was relieved to be on the Penguins bench. It was good just to have a normal gameday routine just being part of the team, and just taking the usual shots, being around the team all night was fun, Fleury said Monday night. It was normal and it was nice. Matt Murray was happy to have him there. MORE: | Hes so laid-back and hes kind of able to joke around with me when I come to the bench, Murray said after leading Pittsburgh to a 3-2 win and 2-1 series lead over Washington. Im able to bounce ideas back and forth off of him, maybe a play that happened during the game. As unimaginable as it may have seemed just a couple of months ago, this is the dynamic that's worked, andMurray should have the option to keep it that way for the rest of the series. After a 49-save night, he Jonny Deluca Jersey , not Fleury, should be the Penguins starting goaltender at least, until he gives coach Mike Sullivan a reason to think otherwise. Then, a suming the time comes, Fleury can return to the job hes held for the last 10 years. And eventhen, his return should be predicated onMurray being bad for some amount of time. It could be for a period. It could be for a game. But, even if its temporary, this needs to be Murrays show. It certainly was on Monday night. One guy brought it, center Nick Bonino said, and he was in the net and he saved the game for us. "Best player on the ice," Patric Hornqvist said."Without him, theres no way we win this game." MORE: So, no, its nothing Fleury has done, and its not particularly fair. Concu sions rarely are; thats what forced him out for all of April. At one point, with Murray injured himself, Fleury seemed like a potential starter for Game 1 of Pittsburghs first-round series against the Rangers. It wouldve been a mistake then; now, clearly, he has improved enough to play. In the meantime, though, it has become about Murray, how good he hasbeen, and the very real po sibility that his team, 48 hours after the first, faces another 50-shot avalanche. Its a good bet defenseman Kris Letang, po sibly its most important skater and its best defenseman by a nautical mile, mi ses at least Game 4because of a high hit against Marcus Johan son. Even with Letang in the lineup, the Caps managed 23 shots in the third period alone. Its not an isolated occurrence, either; its who they are. For a large chunk of the third, the Penguins' best play was to ice the puck. MORE: If youre Sullivan, are you truly willing to a.)throw a guy who hasnt played sinceMarchto that particular pack of wolves or b.) remove a guy who has stopped all but 11 of the 208 postseason shots he has faced? How do you do that to either of them? How do you do that to your team? It's simple enough, actually you don't. (Pause, for a second, to bask in the absurdity that Fleury could even be part of a conversation like this. Were two years removed from Tomas Vokoun deserving to take his job, mid-playoffs. Now, hes a viable alternative to replace a guy with a .944 save percentage. Marc-Andre Fleury. The Marc-Andre Fleury.) At some point, the situation could change. Maybe Murray comes out flat in Game 5, though he has done exactly nothing to suggest that he would.Maybe the Penguins manage to win the series, and the days off before the Eastern Conference finalsare the equalizer. That'd be a nice problem for Sullivan to have. If the time comes, though, it shouldn'tbe at 8 p.m. on Thursday, or whenever NBC Sports is pretending Game 5 will start. Murray should be in the crease, andFleury should be nearby ready to dole out jokes, advice and, maybe, play. It might not feel normal, but that doesn't mean it's wrong. Jacob Waguespack Jersey