No Malkin. No Fleury. No problem.
Rookie netminder Matt Murray stopped all 24 shots he faced as the Pittsburgh Penguins clinched their tenth consecutive playoff berth with a 5-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday.
wIN! Let's make this one to remember. pic.twitter.com/MyQinpKDI3
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 2, 2016
It was the 11th win in 12 games for the Penguins, who announced starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury had suffered his second concussion of the season hours before puck drop. Murray filled in admirably to record his first NHL shutout.
The Penguins' incredible run to a playoff spot was accomplished, for the most part, without star forward Evgeni Malkin - who's missed the team's past 11 games with an upper-body injury.
The victory also increased Pittsburgh's cushion over the New York Rangers to three points in the race for second in the Metropolitan Division, boosting the Penguins' odds of grabbing home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs.
Oskar Sundqvist, Patric Hornqvist, Matt Cullen, Phil Kessel, and Tom Kuhnhackl all scored for the Penguins.
