Penguins' Matt Murray: Protecting net in Game 4 on Friday

Murray led his team out for pregame warmups, drawing the road start Friday night against the Lightning for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Tom Gulitti of NHL.com reports.

Analysis:

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan defended Murray after he surrendered three goals on 20 shots in a Game 1 loss. The decision to stick with the rookie proved to be a wise one, as Murray saw the puck travel behind him just four times between Games 2 and 3. Not surprisingly, he won both of those matches. Pittsburgh led the NHL in shots per game (33.2) during the regular season, and the barrage of rubber is wreaking havoc on the Bolts in the current series - Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has seen 89 shots in the last two games. Such heavy pressure on the other end of the rink typically affords Murray enough time to prepare for the next attack. Especially with the Penguins possessing a 2-1 series advantage, now is not the time to randomly switch to another goalie in the fantasy realm.