Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matthew Murray will be away from the team indefinitely after his father James Murray passed away yesterday. Matt Murray had been away from the team for a few days and ended up missing a couple games first before flying out with the team to California. He was in line to start tonight’s game against the Anaheim Ducks but has flown back to Ontario which means Tristan Jarry will start.
The Penguins official twitter account announced the news earlier today:
The Pittsburgh Penguins offer our deepest condolences to Matt Murray and his family on the passing of Matt’s father, James Murray, yesterday in Ontario.
Matt is returning home from the west coast and will miss an indefinite period of time to be with his family.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 17, 2018
Matt Murray Out Indefinitely Following Father’s Death
So far this season, Murray is 15-12-1 in 31 games with a .903 save percentage. He last appeared on January 7th against the Bruins which was right before the bye week. He allowed no goals after coming in relief for Jarry who allowed five.
Taking over for Matt Murray for however long he needs will be Jarry who’s played very well since coming up from Wilkes-Barre Scranton. He’s 9-3-2 with a .923 save percentage and a 2.33 goals-against average so far. He most recently started both games of a back-to-back for the Penguins against the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers. In both games, he only allowed three goals combined. He may have to do that again as Pittsburgh plays the Ducks tonight and then the Los Angeles Kings tomorrow night.
Backing Jarry up will be Casey Desmith from Wilkes-Barre as he’s been with the team for just about a week. He could get one of these games or the one against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night to end the California trip.
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