Veteran goalies take center stage for Rangers, Penguins

According to police, the owner of a Pittsburgh auto fix shop was watching the first-round playoff game between the Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets on TV when he got into an "altercation" with an employee.

There has been some speculation that Murray was dealing with some sort of injury from a game last week, that perhaps the Penguins were prepared for the possibility they might have to switch to Fleury even before Murray tweaked something during the warmup.

"That fact that we have (Fleury) and Matt is a comfort level", Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said.

Luckily, the victim got to see his Penguins come out victorious, with a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Murray didn't practice Thursday and was a late scratch from Game 1 after he was injured during warmups. Tristan Jarry, who did practice, will serve as Fleury's backup.

To hear Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford tell it, back at the National Hockey League trade deadline in March, he didn't really come close to moving veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury was 15-7-5 with a.906 save percentage and 3.16 GAA in 30 games, 27 starts, before the trade deadline. In Minnesota, St. Louis can go up 2-0 on Minnesota if 26-year-old Jake Allen can keep it going after making a career-high 51 stops in an overtime upset, while in Edmonton the young Oilers didn't exactly look playoff tested as San Jose roared back from an early two-goal deficit to top Connor McDavid and company 3-2. "Playoffs are long. A lot can happen".

Fleury's appearance on Friday will be his 102nd in the playoffs, a franchise record for a goaltender. So, his team had a two-goal lead, and he still wouldn't leave.

"I think they got that first one and put us on our heels a little bit", Columbus center Brandon Dubinsky said.

"They were ticked off, which is what you want them to be", coach Bruce Boudreau said.

The Columbus Blue Jackets haven't shown us much in the last couple of weeks that convinces me they're capable of winning a game on the road against a quality team such as the Penguins. The Oilers and star Connor McDavid took a quick 2-0 lead. "We're going to expect the exact same thing or more", Allen said. The Blue Jackets are averaging three goals per game and are scoring on 19.9 percent of their power play opportunities. The Sharks made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals past year before losing to Pittsburgh. "We'll get back at it".