For the fourth consecutive year the Anaheim Ducks season came to an end with a crushing Game 7 loss.
In an effort to right the ship Ducks GM Bob Murray elected to fire Bruce Boudreau last Friday afternoon.
While you could argue it’s time for some change in Anaheim, I don’t think getting rid of Boudreau was a smart move.
In eight full seasons as a head coach in the NHL, he has won eight division titles. Every year his teams are elite in the regular season and their inability to win in the playoffs is not on him.
Take his tenure in Anaheim, for example. The Ducks have lost four straight Game 7s and Boudreau has taken a lot of heat for that.
Bob Murray told the media the Ducks haven’t come ready to play in Game 7s under Boudreau and that they’ve played not to lose, rather than to win.
Murray on Game 7 losses: They weren’t going out to win, they were going out not to lose. You cannot play hockey that way.
— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) April 29, 2016
It’s easy to pile on a guy who went winless in four Game 7s with the Ducks, despite having an excellent roster to work with, but the narrative the Ducks are chokers, have played not to lose, etc. simply aren’t true.
Over the four Game 7s the Ducks have actually carried play and been the better team.
As you can see the Ducks have been better than their opponents. They’ve controlled a much larger percentage of the shots and shot attempts, but have come out on the wrong end because a) their goaltending hasn’t been very good and; b) their opponent’s goaltending has been excellent.
Boudreau doesn’t have any control of that and shouldn’t be held accountable because his team has had some poor puck luck.
When one door closes another one opens, I guess.
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When Marc-Andre Fleury went down with a concussion prior to the start of the NHL playoffs, some thought the Pittsburgh Penguins’ aspirations to go deep in the playoffs would no longer be achievable.
What they didn’t know was that Matt Murray, just 13 games into his NHL career heading into the playoffs, was capable of not only winning games, but stealing them.
Murray has started five playoff games since returning from an injury of his own and in that span he is 4-1-0 and has posted a remarkable .939 save percentage.
While numbers like that aren’t sustainable over a long period of time, Murray’s norm may not be too far off from what he is doing right now.
Up to 90 games now: .935.
— Adam Gretz (@AGretz) May 1, 2016
He is just 21-years-old, and years away from his prime, but if his first 90 pro games are any indication, he is well on his way to becoming one of the top goaltenders in the NHL.
Written by Todd Cordell, who can be found on twitter @ToddCordell.