Jim Rutherford remains in the Pittsburgh area, tuning in to watch his Penguins from afar. While coach Mike Sullivan and he are presently about 225 miles apart, the two are seeing the same things when it comes to their hockey team.
While the execution wasn’t quite good enough to beat the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1, the general manager liked the effort the Penguins put out there on the ice at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, the Eastern Conference playoff hub.
For Monday’s Game 2, Sullivan opted to keep his full lineup as is and leave Matt Murray in goal. That patience paid off with a 3-1 win for the Penguins.
“Well, that’s what makes him a good coach,” Rutherford said via phone Tuesday. “He’s a patient guy. He knows when and when not to do things. And he rewarded our players for a good effort in Game 1 despite the fact that we lost.”
Sure, the Penguins need to be sharper in some areas, he said. That includes their power play, which he thinks was better Monday despite going 0 for 5.
But given the big picture, that the players weren’t on the ice together for four months and that the NHL is holding playoff games in August for the first time, Rutherford feels the Penguins have played just fine in this five-game series.
Rutherford said Murray was better than just fine — “really good” in his eyes.
Murray in Game 1 gave up three goals, including Jeff Petry’s overtime winner. Sullivan felt he was “solid” enough to get a second straight start, ignoring hundreds of goaltending experts on Twitter arguing he should go with Tristan Jarry.
Sullivan’s hunch, as it often is when it comes to his goalies, was correct.
Murray went save for save with Montreal’s Carey Price. He stopped 26 shots, half of them in the third period, to earn his first playoff victory since 2018.
“You get scrutinized at that position regardless. That’s part of our sport. It’s been that way forever,” Rutherford said. “But he’s had two really good games.”
Rutherford feels the same way about Evgeni Malkin, scoreless in this series even though he has peppered Price with 15 shots so far. With speedy Jason Zucker and Bryan Rust on his wings, the Malkin line has had several thrilling shifts.
“They just need to get a little puck luck and they’ll have something to show for it,” he said. “Certainly, that line shows the potential of being really good.”
Rutherford can’t say the same thing about his current third line. The trio of Patrick Marleau, Jared McCann and Patric Hornqvist hasn’t had the impact the Penguins were hoping for. If we see changes before Game 3, it could be here.
“I think in Game 2 they were better. It doesn’t seem like the chemistry is quite there, the way we would like it,” he said. “But they’re all good players in their own roles. I don’t know if the chemistry is right with those three guys.”
Evan Rodrigues and Sam Lafferty are Sullivan’s top options if he wants to give somebody else a shot. If he needs a center, Rodrigues is the likely selection.
Fans shouldn’t anticipate any changes on the blue line. Rutherford raved about John Marino for this story we wrote Tuesday. The rookie and partner Marcus Pettersson have indeed formed a strong second pair. And just like his coach, the GM feels the duo of Jack Johnson and Justin Schultz has held up OK.
“In the first game, it was just bad luck on a couple of the goals,” he said. “It wasn’t necessarily major mistakes. I think they’ve been fine. … You’ve got the offensive guy and the defensive guy. Jack can play physical. And Justin, when he’s skating and moving the puck, really helps the transition game. It should work.”
Game 3 of the qualifying-round matchup with Montreal is Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel.
First Published: August 4, 2020, 10:17 p.m.
