CRANBERRY, Pa. -- There was a good reason why Matt Murray had been decidedly more proactive in protecting himself and his crease in recent weeks. The oft-injured goaltender was hoping to avoid another.
Apparently, it didn't work.
A day after taking his third loss in the last four games, Murray did not practice on Wednesday. After the 45-minute, on-ice session, Mike Sullivan said that Murray was being evaluated for an upper body injury. The good news for the Penguins is that Murray's latest injury was not related to a concussion, the coach confirmed. Also, Murray will be making the team's trip to Florida later Wednesday.
Still, the Penguins recalled Tristan Jarry from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an emergency basis to serve as Casey DeSmith's backup tomorrow night against the Panthers if Murray can't go. Jarry is 0-1-1 in two starts with the Penguins this season after going 14-6-2 and leading all NHL rookies in wins in 2017-18. In 27 AHL games this season , he is 15-9-3 record with a 2.75 GAA and a .912 save percentage.
It was not clear how Murray was injured in Tuesday's 4-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in which he stopped 28 of 31 shots. But Murray has been vocal in recent weeks about not getting penalties called on what he believed to be goaltender interference.
Following last week's win over Tampa Bay, Murray and teammates said that the Lightning's Alex Killorn and Matthieu Joseph (see below) were trying to take liberties on the slender, 177-pound goaltender. Twice in that game, Murray was aggressive in protecting himself:
"They’re obviously not calling anything," Murray said later. "So if I have to, I guess, that’s what I’ve got to do.”
Last month against the Coyotes in Arizona, the mild-mannered 24-year-old had a rare outburst when he took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for berating an official.
Murray missed three games in October after suffering the third concussion of his career after taking a puck to the head in practice. He then missed 13 games later in the fall with a lower body injury. Upon his return in mid-December, Murray reeled off nine straight wins but he -- and his teammates -- have cooled off since.
In his four-year career, Murray has yet to make more than 47 starts in any season due to various knee, hand and head injuries.
Mike Chiasson, a goalie development coach at the Lemieux Complex, practiced in Murray's place Wednesday.
