RALEIGH, N.C. -- Ever since Matt Murray returned last week from his lower-body injury, he and Casey DeSmith have pretty much alternated in the Penguins' crease, and that'll continue here tonight against the Hurricanes, Mike Sullivan confirmed two hours before faceoff.
How much longer will they alternate?
To hear the coach describe it here, it'll be until one or the other leaps out.
For now, though, it sounds as if this decision might have been influenced -- at least a little -- by Murray's dramatic home/road splits. He's 2-5 with a 5.02 goals-against average at PPG Paints Arena, 4-0-1 with a 2.20 GAA everywhere else. And by DeSmith's almost-as-dramatic splits. He's 8-2-2 with a 2.43 GAA at PPG Paints Arena, 3-4-2 with a 2.40 GAA everywhere else.
"At this point, we've played so much hockey lately that we're really trying to utilize both guys, and both guys are playing extremely well for us," Sullivan said. "That's really the main discussion the coaching staff is having. But we are aware of the records."
The splits, he meant.
With the four-day Christmas break beginning tomorrow, the schedule lightens somewhat after that. A starter should become clearer. Sullivan strongly suggested he'd rather have his decision made by the participants themselves.
"I think healthy competition exists at all of our positions right now," Sullivan said. "But right now, in particular with the goaltending position, it's good for everyone. I think it keeps us all at our best. That's just the reality of the business that we're in. I don't think the goalies are any different."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Media notes
• Team statistics
• NHL scoreboard
• NHL standings
THE INJURIES
• Penguins: Jamie Oleksiak, defenseman, is out indefinitely with a concussion. … Justin Schultz, defenseman, is out until mid-February with a fractured leg.
• Hurricanes: None.
THE SKATE
• Neither the Penguins nor the Hurricanes held a morning skate because of a college basketball game played here. The ice was getting heavy maintenance through the afternoon, noticeable most by this wild wind whipping through the place to help fend off humidity.
• Curtis McElhinney will start in goal for Carolina, Rod Brind'Amour confirmed at the same time Sullivan was announcing his starter across the hall. It'll be his first action in two weeks because of a lower-body injury.
• It's not official, but it's fairly evident there won't be any lineup changes for the Penguins tonight. That means Juuso Riikola will stay put. Sullivan praised his poise while being in and out all through his first season in North America: "We really like Juuso. His mobility is really good. He gets back to pucks. For a guy who's not that big, he's got a little bite to him. He hits hard when he has an opportunity to finish checks. He makes a good first pass. He processes the game pretty well. And he can shoot it from the blue line. It's a surprise to me that he hasn't produced points just from his shot because he's pretty good at getting the puck through to the net. ... The fact that he's been in and out of the lineup the way he has, I think he's handled it extremely well."
• The Hurricanes enjoyed a promising start to the season, but they're 2-5-1 this month and have been held to one or fewer goals four times in that span. "Things aren't going our way. That's obvious," Brind'Amour said. "It's tough because it becomes taxing. Guys start overthinking it. It's a tough time for everyone. We think we deserve better, but that's not how it works. You've got to put the puck in the net, and you've got to, at the end of the day, win the game. The good part about it is I know the guys care."
• I asked Sullivan about the Canes' gun-happy style. They lead the NHL with 37.5 shots per game, nearly three more than the second-highest team, the Sharks, at 34.9.
THE COMBINATIONS
• The Penguins' lines and pairings:
Guentzel—Crosby—Rust
Simon—Malkin—Hornqvist
Pearson—Brassard—Kessel
Sheahan—Cullen—Aston-Reese
Dumoulin—Letang
Maatta—Riikola
Pettersson—Johnson
• And for the Hurricanes:
Martinook—Aho—Teravainen
Ferland—Staal—McGinn
Svechnikov—Wallmark—Williams
Foegele—Rask—Di Giuseppe
Slavin—Pesce
de Haan—Faulk
van Riemsdyk—Hamilton
THE SCHEDULE
The four-day Christmas break begins tomorrow. The Penguins won't hit the ice again until Thursday for the morning skate in advance of the game that night against the Red Wings at PPG Paints Arena.
THE COVERAGE
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