CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Everyone knew Matt Murray was struggling, and questions were being asked about everything from his glove hand to his compete level to his mental state.
Now, maybe, we know why he was off.
Following the Penguins' practice Thursday at the Lemieux Sports Complex, the team placed Murray on the NHL's Injured Reserve list -- and recalled Tristan Jarry from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL -- because of what Mike Sullivan described as a lower-body injury that had been previously unknown to the coaching staff or management. Sullivan added that Murray will be out "longer term," which typically is his terminology for more than a handful of games. IR mandates only that a player is out seven days.
"He was evaluated this morning,” Sullivan said. "This is something that he's been dealing with for a couple of weeks. The decision was made this morning to rest and see if that gives him an opportunity to heal. ... This was not something that we expected."
No further detail was offered. The most common injury in hockey that takes a while to diagnose is a bone fracture in the foot. Players often can endure extensive action under the assumption it'll eventually be fine, only to find later through X-ray that there was a break.
Whatever the injury is, Sullivan commended Murray for trying to play through it.
"That's just the type of person that he is, he's a real competitive guy," Sullivan said. "Everyone's playing through bumps and bruises, but him, in particular, he's trying to fight through it and capture his game. He knows how important he is to the team. It just speaks volumes for the type of person that he is."
Murray is 4-5-1 with a 4.08 goals-against average and .877 save percentage.
Jarry will serve as the backup to Casey DeSmith, who has started five of the past six games while Murray has struggled.
That experience, DeSmith says, has him confident he can handle an increased workload:
DeSmith came out of nowhere last year to win the backup job down the stretch and has played reasonably well this season. He is 4-3-3 with a 2.39 GAA, .924 save percentage and one shutout, after making 18 saves in Wednesday night's 5-1 win over the Stars.
Nearly a year to the day after making his NHL debut in mop-up duty at Winnipeg, DeSmith says he feels he's shown he can be counted on at the NHL level.
“You'd like to say that I thought I could do it and all that, but to play as many games as I have since that time is a real blessing for me and good opportunities that have arisen for me,” DeSmith told DKPittsburghSports.com Thursday. “I’m really thankful for that. Just to be here, kind of full time now, I'm just really happy.”
Jarry has appeared in 11 games for Wilkes-Barre this year, going 4-5-2 with a 2.89 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage. On Nov. 14, he scored a goal at Springfield, becoming the first goalie in the organization's history to score from his own net.
DeSmith and Jarry shared goaltending duties for most of January and March last season after Murray missed extended time, first, on a personal leave following the death of his father and then for a concussion sustained in practice. DeSmith won the No. 2 job over Jarry last spring and again out of training camp in September.
“Every game is different, and every game you kind of build confidence,” DeSmith was saying. “Also, being around the team really helps getting comfortable with them and they with you. They have maybe a little more confidence in you than before. That’s just the way sports works and guys cement themselves as NHL players. You build kind of a resume and you get more comfortable and get more confidence and it kind of builds from there. The more games I’ve played, the happier I am and the more confidence I have.”
Jarry, 23, a second-round pick in 2013, has been viewed as the potential long-term backup to Murray. In 26 NHL games last year, he went 14-6-2, the most wins of any rookie, while posting a .908 save percentage and 2.77 GAA.
"He's played extremely well, had a really good training camp here," Sullivan said of Jarry. "Played extremely well since he's been at Wilkes-Barre. We believe these guys are capable guys. They were both in this position last year and did a real good job when Matt was hurt last year. We trust these guys and believe they can help us win games."
The Penguins play in Boston tomorrow night, where they haven't won since Nov. 24, 2014, before hosting the Blue Jackets on Saturday.
DeSmith’s last outing at TD Garden -- about 75 miles southeast of his hometown of Rochester, N.H. -- was also his worst. On March 1, he lasted just 5:27, giving up three goals on five shots in what became an 8-4 embarrassment.
“I had a lot of people there, and I didn't last very long,” he said. “Hopefully, if I play this time, it goes better. Playing in front of your family and friends, especially close to home, is a treat.”
Though he’s a New England native, DeSmith says he “hated” the Bruins growing up. The entire DeSmith family cheered for the rival Canadiens because Casey’s grandfather’s cousin was Floyd Curry, a member of Montreall’s dynastic teams of the 1950s.
• Thursday's 40-minute practice was closed to the public at the Lemieux Complex. After snapping a four-game losing streak a night earlier, the mood was predictably loose.
• As an unproven rookie, Juuso Riikola wasn't about to rock the boat. The 24-year-old said Thursday that he thought Brett Ritchie's hard hit in the second period was late but that he should have been better prepared to take it. Riikola missed most of the period while clearing concussion protocol.
"Maybe next game if he comes like that, I'll do same thing," the defenseman said. "I'm not that kind of guy who hits late or to the head or something like that. Sometime things happen fast. I'm OK with that hit. I should be more ready."
When I asked Sullivan if a five-minute major should have been assessed instead of the two, the coach gave his standard: "They call what they see. Refereeing in our league is very difficult."
• Derick Brassard played 17:09 on Wednesday, the most ice time he's seen since his return three games ago. He says his conditioning is starting to come around. "There's nothing like game-like situations on the ice, the leg burn," he said. "There's nothing that you can do to train for that."
• Olli Maatta wore a non-contact jersey but only as a precaution, according to Sullivan.
• It is Thanksgiving after all, so the Penguins did feast on some turkey. A team dinner was planned for Thursday night at the team hotel in Boston. Practicing and travel on holidays isn't ideal for anyone, particularly for players like Jack Johnson, who is a father and husband. You have to work around it, he says. Johnson, who had family traveling into town, said he'll celebrate with them on Sunday, the team's scheduled off day.
• Phil Kessel took a hard spill in front of the penalty box doors while working on puck-handling drills. It was unclear how he went down but the crash could be heard throughout the empty rink. Sullivan and Patric Hornqvist immediately skated over to check on Kessel, who went off the ice for about seven minutes to be checked out. The Penguins' ironman, who has appeared in 700-plus consecutive games, appeared fine afterward.
• In addition to Murray, Derek Grant did not take the ice with a maintenance day. Grant recorded his first point as a Penguin on Wednesday, picking up an assist on Tanner Pearson's second-period goal.
• With Murray out, emergency backup Mike Chiasson filled in admirably.
• Thursday's lines and pairings stayed the same as the game the previous night:
Guentzel—Crosby—Hornqvist
Pearson—Malkin—Kessel
Simon—Brassard—Aston-Reese
Rust—Sheahan—Sprong
Dumoulin—Letang
Maatta—Riikola
Johnson—Oleksiak
(Ruhwedel)
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