Penguins, Casey DeSmith outduel Senators, Matt Murray

Matt Murray will always be a consequential figure in the history of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The franchise’s two most recent Stanley Cup championship banners are evidence of that.

At one point, he was the Penguins’ goaltender of the future, but those designs went as catawampus as his play did following those early triumphs.

Jettisoned via trade to the Ottawa Senators in October of 2020, Murray finally played against the Penguins on Thursday for the first time since their mostly amicable divorce roughly 16 months ago.

Making 42 saves on 43 shots, Murray was stout but fell to his former employer 2-0 at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

“I tried to take it as just another game,” Murray said to media in Ottawa. “It’s been (almost) two years in the making. I missed them a couple of times.

“Nice to get it over with, I’ll say that.”

There was plenty to say about Murray’s one-time backup, Casey DeSmith, after this game. He stopped all 26 shots he faced — including a handful of breakaways — to boost his record to 4-3-2. The shutout was DeSmith’s second of the season and the eighth of his career.

“You can see it in his body language when he has a certain bounce in his step,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He had it tonight. He made two or three real good saves throughout the course of the game that we needed, quite frankly. That’s what goalies do to help their teams wins. Casey did that tonight.

“Just in his body language, you get the sense behind the bench that he’s behind his game. I felt that way tonight early on. He made two or three real good saves at key times in the game to help us win. We’re thrilled for him. He’s played a lot of good hockey over the last few years since he’s been a Pittsburgh Penguin.

“We know what he’s capable of. It’s games like this.”

The Penguins displayed their full capabilities from a defensive standpoint, admittedly against an opponent missing two of its three top scorers — forward Drake Batherson and Joshua Norris — due to injuries.

Outshooting the Senators by nearly a two-to-one margin (44-26), the Penguins offered one of their most complete games in a handful of weeks.

“This was a pretty solid 60 minutes throughout the lineup,” Penguins forward Jeff Carter said. “We played fast. They’re a good team. They play fast. They’re a skilled team. They got some chances, and (DeSmith) made some big saves for us. It’s probably our most complete game in a long time. It’s good stuff for us.”

After a goalless first period, Carter opened the scoring at 7:25 of the second period.

Following a weak clearing attempt by Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot from his own right corner, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang intercepted the puck at the right point, sauntered in slightly toward the right circle then fed a pass above the left hashmarks for Carter. Leaning down, Carter swiped a one-timer past Murray’s blocker on the near side for his 13th goal of the season. Letang had the lone assist.

Victory was assured at 19:48 of the third when Penguins forward Bryan Rust recorded his 16th goal on an empty net. Linemates Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel collected assists.

Crosby was denied his 500th career goal.

Stuck on a mere 499, Crosby was stymied by Murray and the Senators despite logging six shots on eight attempts.

Murray had the fortune of being a part of several of Crosby’s noteworthy accomplishments as a teammate. He didn’t seem particularly upset over failing to be involved in another as an opponent.

“I had no idea he was that close,” Murray said. “I’m sure he’s going to hit a ton more milestones here in the next couple of years. A special player. I’m thankful I got to witness so many of his milestones.”

The Penguins were thankful to get a road win despite a strong performance by their former goaltender.

“Matt looked really strong,” Sullivan said. “Obviously, I have a long history with him and know his game well. When he’s on his game, he makes some difficult saves look easy. That was the case tonight. He made some real good saves.”

Notes: The Penguins’ power play was 0 for 2 in the contest. A streak of six consecutive games with a power-play goal was halted. … Sullivan indicated rookie forward Drew O’Connor, sidelined since suffering a reported collapsed lung Jan. 15, has resumed full contact during practices and morning skates. … The Penguins’ scratches were forwards Michael Chaput, Valtteri Puustinen and defenseman Mark Friedman. … Because of provincial limitations in Ontario related to covid-19, a maximum of 500 spectators were allowed into Canadian Tire Centre.