Kraken goalie Matt Murray made the most of the hefty compliment he was paid in earning Tuesday night’s start for the second consecutive game.
The Kraken had alternated Murray and Philipp Grubauer the first two times out in the absence of injured No. 1 starter Joey Daccord. But then it was Murray going again in this 2-1 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in a game that was tight throughout until Charlie Coyle put it away for the visitors in the penalty shot session.
Murray made 33 saves and was at his best in the late stages of this game, with the score still tied and the Kraken being outshot 11-5 in the final frame. Then, in overtime, Coler Sillinger rode by a defender for a chance in tight only to have Murray turn him away.
Adam Fantilli, author of the only goal scored on Murray in regulation, had a chance in alone late in overtime. But Murray forced him wide and Fantilli wound up hitting the side of the net with his chance.
Kirill Marchenko scored on his team’s third shootout attempt, forcing Eeli Tolvanen to notch an equalizer to keep the Kraken going. Coyle then scored for Columbus in the fifth shootout round to hand his team the victory.
For a while, it looked as if the Kraken had gained the upper hand after an opening period goal by Ryan Winterton off a nice feed from Ben Meyers in close. Meyers could have taken the puck straight in on goalie Jet Greaves but spotted Winterton cruising into the high slot unchallenged and fed him the backhanded dish for a one-timed snapper that opened the scoring with just more than three minutes to go until intermission.
Columbus was finishing off a disappointing five-game road trip and reeling from a locker room bug that left several players depleted, even though many made it into the lineup at the last minute. Greaves had played the night before in an overtime loss in Edmonton but made the rare back-to-back starts after tandem goalie Elvis Merzlikins was unable to go.
Still, the Kraken could not put the Blue Jackets away in a second period in which the visitors appeared noticeably fatigued, losing an increasing number of puck battles and failing to clear their zone in timely fashion. Yet, the Blue Jackets hung in there and caught a break near the end of the second period when the Kraken took successive penalties that left them shorthanded by two men for 1:06 seconds.
Columbus took advantage of the 5-on-3, with Fantilli ripping a slap shot that a down-and-out Murray – prone in his crease – nearly managed to snare with his glove before the puck ripped off of it and trickled over the goal line. It was the first goal yielded by Murray in more than four periods of action, having given up a pair in the opening period at Dallas and then nothing further.
The decision to carry Murray along with Daccord and Grubauer raised plenty of eyebrows to start the season. But the move was justified when Daccord went down last week with an undisclosed injury the Kraken have yet to release a projected recovery timeline on.
Murray has played only sparingly at the NHL level the past two years after undergoing a double-hip surgery to alleviate lower body pain he’d played through for the majority of his career. The Kraken took a chance that the 31-year-old still had plenty left in his tank, though Murray didn’t get much chance to prove it the opening month in being limited to a lone start in a loss to the Capitals in Washington.
But he played well in that game after a sluggish start and did the same in Dallas on Sunday after looking similarly rusty early on. Given the chance at a second straight outing in this one, he was on from the get-go, keeping the Blue Jackets at-bay throughout until the rash of penalties finally gave them life.