OTTAWA -- It was in this same building, in that same right corner of the visitors' bench that Matt Murray solidified his place in the Penguins' lore with just one steely look.
You know the look:
That, above, was Game 3 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Final when Murray looked to his right, nodding to Mike Sullivan and eagerly accepting the coach's directive to replace a struggling Marc-Andre Fleury in net.
Pittsburghers know the rest.
Maybe it was confidence, or some would suggest arrogance, but either way Murray went on to win that series, backstop the Penguins to their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship and, not to be forgotten, alter the course of franchise history at the most important position. Not to re-litigate the past, but Fleury never played another minute in a Pittsburgh sweater.
Well, 18 months later, to the day, Murray was back in that same spot in the Canadian Tire Centre. And there could not have been a starker contrast. Because this time, Murray sat there for the final 40 minutes of the Penguins' latest loss, 6-4 to the Senators, and it marked the third time in his past six starts he had to be yanked. He allowed three goals on 10 shots, all in a 4:23 span of the first period. That after allowing four on the first 12 he faced two nights earlier against the Lightning.
For the season, Murray's now got an .877 save percentage and 4.08 goals-against average, 60th and 61st in the NHL.
I asked Sullivan if his goaltender's confidence has been shaken:
"I'm sure it is," the coach answered. "He's a human being. He's a proud guy and he wants to do well. Sometimes when you get into these type of circumstances, sometimes you can try a little too hard and it gets in the way of just your instinctual play. There's always that fine line of trying, but making sure you don't try too hard. That can be counterproductive. When you're going through a stretch like we're going through, and I don't think Matt's different than a lot of our guys. I love this group of people and they care."
Indeed, Murray is a stand-up guy and took questions following this latest loss, continuing to focus on the positive and on stopping the next shot:
"Everyone's going to make mistakes out there, including myself. I've made plenty of them," Murray said. "Just got to learn from them and move on. You've got to keep confident at a time like this. It's easy to be negative. But me, personally, all of us in here are going to choose to be positive. That's the only thing you can do at a time like this."
Not all of the Senators' goals were his fault, mind you. Given their struggles of late, the Penguins' lack of attention to detail on the defensive side was mind-numbing:
• The first goal was the result of Phil Kessel failing to pick up Brady Tkachuk for an easy rebound goal.
• The second was on a Mark Stone tip from the top of the crease after Kessel and Co. seemed pre-occupied by Ryan Dzingel, who had the puck behind the net from where he couldn't, you know, score.
• The third came off the rush, courtesy of a botched line change. Kessel then failed to pick up his man, Matt Duchene, who redirected the Senators' third goal.
Detect a trend there?
Still, at some point, Murray has to make the timely save. Since winning the first Cup in 2016, his ability to keep his team in games -- and his mental toughness -- have been his calling cards. It's what made him elite.
However, the question moving forward is -- after losing eight of the last nine and plummeting to the bottom of the Eastern Conference -- how much longer can the Penguins afford to keep going back to Murray at this point?
The clock is ticking on the season.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THREE STARS
My curtain calls go to …
1. MATT DUCHENE
Senators center
With two goals and an assist, he has nine points in his past five games, as well as 500 career points in 674 games.
2. MARK STONE
Senators right winger
Derick Brassard, who returned to the lineup Saturday, called his former teammate one of the most underrated players in the league. Stone then went out and scored twice.
3. BRADY TKACHUK
Senators left winger
As they say around here, the only thing silent about Tkachuk is the "T" in his surname. When he fills out, this kid is going to be a beast.
THE INJURIES
• Penguins: Sidney Crosby, center, missed his second straight game with an upper body injury sustained Tuesday vs. the Devils. Justin Schultz, defenseman, is expected to miss four months after fracturing his leg Oct. 13 in Montreal.
• Senators: Jean-Gabriel Pageau, center, is on IR and will likely miss the rest of the season with a torn Achilles. Ben Harpur, defenseman, was placed on IR on Oct. 27 with an undisclosed injury.
THE GOOD
Seriously, where do the Penguins go from here?
The third period -- if you hadn't tuned out already -- did offer some real hope. Patric Hornqvist called it his team's best 20 minutes of hockey since Western Canada. No argument here.
The fact that it took 40 minutes and a 5-1 deficit to finally light a fire under the Penguins is a different matter. But they did respond in the third by scoring three of their four goals.
"Obviously, we put ourselves in a big hole the first two periods.," Hornqvist was telling me. "We didn't give them those goals but we can repair those goals: the turnovers, puck battles. It's not like they outplayed us the first two periods. They get two easy goals and then in the third we start playing the game more simple, more straight-ahead and that's how you score goals in this league."
All three of the Penguins' third-period goals would qualify as the greasy variety. Look for yourself, there was hardly any artistry involved:
• It was Aston-Reese, with his first of the season, merely putting a puck on net.
• It was Cullen burying a rebound on a shot Bryan Rust intentionally put off the pads of Craig Anderson.
• And it was Hornqvist with a tip of a Kessel shot.
"Right now we're in a (bleeping) deep hole," Kris Letang fumed. "We have to figure it out. Can't be sorry for ourselves. We have to show more of what we were able to do in the third period: Get dirty goals and simplify our mindset. We have all the skill in the world, but right now it's not working. Maybe just putting pucks on the net and make it a little nasty out there."
THE BAD
How rotten has the Penguins' luck been lately?
Consider: Hornqvist received what appeared to be about 10 stitches to his forehead after getting struck by a puck ... during warmups on a shot that hit the post. Oh, and it was his own shot. I mean, what are the odds of that happening?
Yes, Hornqvist wears a helmet and visor but he is the only Penguin not to wear a helmet in the 15-minute final warmup period.
Sure it looks cool and is a good way for fans to recognize and connect a little more with players, but it is dangerous with a couple dozen pucks on the ice at once and 23 players crammed into a 100-foot area.
On Thursday, it stood out to me that quite a few Lightning players didn't wear helmets in warmups. You just don't see it much anymore. In 2012, Taylor Hall once famously took 30 stitches to the face after getting cut by a teammate's skate blade.
Fortunately for Hornqvist he was able to play. He didn't even miss a shift. But it will be interesting to see if Sullivan mandates helmet use moving forward.
THE PLAY
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.
At 16:36 of the second period and the Penguins on the power play, Olli Maatta coughed the puck up in the neutral zone and Stone made him pay by scoring on a shorthanded breakaway. Stone deked DeSmith, the backup goalie on the backhand to make it 5-1, putting the game effectively out of reach.
The Penguins have now allowed four short-handed goals in just 18 games this season after giving up just three throughout all of 2017-18. Only the Ducks have allowed more short-handed goals this season with five.
THE CALL
Mired in a 15-game goal-less drought and a team-worst minus-9 rating, Riley Sheahan was a healthy scratch -- I confirmed that with Sullivan afterward -- for the first time in his Penguins career.
That move left the lineup once again without two of the top four centers with Crosby injured. It also put a strain on the penalty-kill, which gave up four goals Thursday vs. the Lightning. Despite his offensive shortcomings, Sheahan is one of the Penguins' top penalty killers and is still good on the draw. He's won 51.7 percent of his faceoffs this season.
With Sheahan out, Sullivan employed Zach Aston-Reese (3:26) and even Jake Guentzel (1:58) on the PK, which killed off all three Ottawa chances.
In Sheahan's place, Daniel Sprong saw his first game action since Nov. 5. The 21-year-old is still looking for his first goal but did play well enough to get another look (if he's not traded). Sprong had two shots on goal, one of which hit the post in the third period.
THE OTHER SIDE
The Senators were supposed to be playing for presumptive No. 1 overall pick Jack Hughes and little else this season, right?
But if the season ended today, the U.S. NTDP prodigy would likely be going to the Kings ... though the Penguins would be in the running in the lottery. Ottawa (9-8-3) has now won two straight, three of its last four, and has four more points than Pittsburgh.
Sure, the Senators have been the butt of quite a few jokes, the Uber controversy being just the latest. But they have some quality young pieces in Tkachuk and defensemen Maxime Lajoie and Thomas Chabot.
"I think we came out strong, deserved our goals, absolutely," Ottawa coach Guy Boucher said. "I thought we kept it down for the first two periods, defensively, and we were expecting a push in the third. They're Stanley Cup champions, and guys that are proud, and guys that have a lot of experience and so much talent. They're a stacked team."
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins have a scheduled off day Sunday. They'll host the Sabres on Monday night at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.
THE COVERAGE
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