Matt Murray called it a "force field."
That, the goalie was explaining to me, is the space that surrounds Erik Gudbranson on the ice. When you stand 6 feet 5, 217 pounds, it gives you immediate street cred in the battle areas of the NHL: The net front and in the corners. Gudbranson long ago earned that respect over his first seven-plus seasons in Vancouver and Florida.
But in Tuesday night's 5-3 win over the hated Capitals, just his seventh game with his new team, Gudbranson earned the undying love of his new team, and certainly of the 18,640 inside a delirious PPG Paints Arena and the hundreds of thousands watching at home.
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