Matt Murray Pro Reads 13

THE SEQUENCE

This time Murray, who only appeared in five games this season but posted a .922 save percentage, is facing a rush chance against the Washington Capitals, with a net drive option behind the defense as Tom Wilson skates down right wing with the puck:

We’ve already given away what comes next based on the headline but looking at the freeze frame above and knowing that backside net drive is going to get the puck, what’s your next move as a goalie? What do you make of Murray’s positioning as the pass is made?

Where would you want to be when the player catches that pass, and what factors might change that? What’s that player most likely to do next? Can your positioning impact that?

The Save

Watch it play out in real time and ask yourself those same questions:

What did you make of Murray’s conservative depth choice back to the post?

Would you have been more aggressive with depth on the initial push, maybe even tried to get out and flow back?

What benefits can you see to the way Murray handed this?

THE PRO READ

Now, let’s hear Murray what was thinking as this play unfolded:

The first key is recognizing who is coming over the blue line with speed on what otherwise looks like a standard 3-on-4 rush and identifying it will be an area pass to him.

“Reading that guy on the far side has some speed so he’s able to get past our guy, and you know going not going to be a direct pass,” Murray said. “It’s going to be a slow pass.”

As for choosing to go back towards his post to meet that pass, Murray said it limits options.

“You want to make sure that you don’t overplay these,” he said. “This is a really tough play. It’s coming to a lefty, and like right here (as the player catches that pass), he can do pretty much anything with it. He can shoot it, he can pull it, tuck 5-hole, he can pull it around you. So, for that reason, I thought it was good that I went to the post here, because he was in tight enough where I don’t have to be right on top of the crease.”

What changes if you do push out to the top of the crease?

“If I’m on top of the crease here, he can probably just walk right around me,” Murray said. “That’s a much tougher save if I’m at the top of the crease because now he can shoot 5-hole and I’d be worried about that if I’m at the top of my crease here. I want to hold my feet, but if he’s in that tight, he can shoot 5-hole and it’s really tough to shut it down for a big guy like me, so it’d be harder to be patient. So, I like that I’m on the post, taking away that whole side. He shoots high blocker there, and I felt like I was all over it. And then, if he were to cut across, I have that post as leverage.”

That part about knowing his strengths — and relative weaknesses — as a big goalie is key.

“Every goalie is going to play this differently,” he said. “A smaller, more mobile guy will play it a lot differently than this, but for a guy like me, at my size, it’s harder to be as mobile, especially post double hip surgery, on a side-to-side play like that. So, just playing it more smart, and using leverage to your advantage, like getting to that post, using my size, and if he were to have cut across, I have that, so now I’m covering 5 hole, so I don’t have to worry about 5-hole, and if he shoots it, it’s a small movement. If he tries to tuck it around me, I’m on that post. I don’t even have to open up because I’m using that post as leverage. I don’t have as far to push. If he tries to tuck it around me, same thing. So for a guy of my size, on a play like that, I thought I read that one really well, liked my spot. Whatever he decided to do, I felt like I had a pretty good answer to, and that’s all you can ask for in today’s game. … No matter what he did there, I thought I had a good chance of making the save.”

That’s it from this latest session with Murray but if you haven’t already, make sure you go back and re-visit his first nine while in Toronto, starting with that nearly 9-minute breakdown of screens that would stand up as a Ted Talk on managing traffic, as well as the most recent two Pro Reads since signing with the Seattle Kraken: