Penguins’ Murray the Latest Starter to Suffer an Injury

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced goaltender Matt Murray will be out indefinitely with a concussion. Murray suffered the injury during the Penguins’ practice on Monday and there is no timetable for his return. Penguins’ head coach Mike Sullivan suggested both Casey DeSmith and Tristian Jarry would see action in the absence of Murray.

“It’s at times like these where we have to rely on our depth, and we believe in the group we have,” said Sullivan. “I think both Casey and Tristian have shown that they’re NHL-caliber goalies.”

DeSmith is expected to get the nod when the Penguins take on the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. The 27-year-old posted a .921 SV% and a 6-4-1 record for the Penguins a year ago.

Murray’s injury is already the third concussion he’s suffered in his young career, and it’s the second time the injury occurred in practice. Murray missed nine games last season with a concussion after being struck in the head by a puck during practice.

The Penguins now join a surprisingly long list of teams that are without their starting goaltender.

The Panthers announced yesterday that starter Roberto Luongo is out two to four weeks with an MCL injury. Today, the Kings said Jonathan Quick is week-to-week with his undisclosed injury. Both Cory Schneider (hip) and Corey Crawford (concussion, vertigo-like symptoms) have yet to play a game for their respective teams this season.

DeSmith and Jarry are the most recent backups to see an increase in workload, joining the likes of James Reimer, Jack Campbell, Keith Kinkaid, Cam Ward, and Curtis McElhinney. This goalie epidemic won’t do anything to stop the influx of goals we’ve seen already this season.