Penguins/NHL
Murray to start vs San Jose
Matt Murray who last played in relief on January 8th, will make his first start tonight vs the San Jose Sharks since the passing of his father.
The top priority for the Penguins coaching staff moving forward is getting Murray back to form.
As Murray has gone through the grieving process, the Penguins 8-3 in January have rode the hot hand of Casey DeSmith recently who is 3-1 with a .944 save percentage in the Penguins last four games.
DeSmith’s emergence has given Pittsburgh the luxury of returning Tristan Jarry to Wilkes Barre and let him handle a starters workload in the minors.
The combo of DeSmith/Jarry as back-up options also takes Pittsburgh out of the mix of having to add a veteran goaltender at the deadline, something that was obviously on the table after the Antti Niemi disaster.
While the coaching staff knows they can turn to DeSmith with much more confidence than they had a couple weeks ago, the next two months for the staff is all about getting Murray back on top of his game and they’re planning a heavy workload for him.
“He’s obviously our No. 1 goalie,” head coach Mike Sullivan said of Murray. To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
Penguins have been focused on adding a right handed third line center
As explained here about 10 days ago, Pittsburgh’s interest in Mark Letestu has been centered on a belief that the right handed center would fit really well with Phil Kessel and the organization see’s some playmaking similarities to how well Tyler Bozak meshed with Kessel years ago in Toronto.
There’s a similar belief with To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! Pittsburgh has made offers To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
While the Penguins have had no trade talks with the Wild about Matt Cullen to this point, a source confirms, the Cullen possibility will always be out there if the Wild fall out of the playoff race, as Jason Mackey of the Post-Gazette mentioned in his weekly 20 Thoughts Segment.
LINEUP BUZZ
— Matt Murray is in goal tonight and no other changes as Ryan Reaves will be scratched for the third straight game. It looks like Ian Cole will dress for the second straight game. Matt Hunwick has been skating the last two days but Sullivan continues to indicate Hunwick is still day-to-day. To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
[…] is also a right handed shooter and the Penguins have been very intrigued about adding a right handed centerman to play with Phil […]
Any correlation to Reaves to the bench and the Pens improved play?
Npl hates Trump because he talks about jobs and that fat slob does. Not like to work. The only work be likes is moving his mouth to eat
I liked Joe Kennedy’s speech right after the SOTU. Not sure if that was drool or semen on the corner of his mouth.
“Americans are dreamers too”
Murray played a very strong game and got a much needed win for his confidence. Still think this team has a major void at 3c and honestly should look to move Letang. He and Hagelin are probably each making 1.5-2 million more than they deserve.
I’d say 3 for Letang, but agree. I do think though that bringing in Pacioretty could fill a huge void. Guentzel couldbe the 3c and our 4th line would be one of the best in the league. He’s very good defensively and his speed fits our system. He’s only making 4.5 through next year as well, which opens a lot of things up.
I think we as fans and probably JR over value what Letang is anymore. Same way we look at players like Nash etc and say, that guy’s past his prime and is an overpriced washed up player, other teams are probably starting to look at Letang that way also. It’s been a few years since he was “elite”, why would another team pay a premuim price for him anymore?
Letang just played in the AS game a few days ago. It’s pretty safe to say that his perception around the league is much, much better than it is with the clueless segment of the Pittsburgh fanbase.
Price played all Star games too and he didn’t deserve to go this year. I would’ve like to see rask instead
All BS aside Letang has been incredibly polarizing this year. Now I am not truly looking to ship him off unless I could get an OEL type in return. His possession numbers are fine but he has struggled in almost every other capacity to the point of him speaking about his own struggles publicly for an online article. Him being selected to the ASG is a bit of a farce no? I wouldn’t exactly use it as a barometer for his play this season. That being said I don’t care to see the knee jerk reaction move as it could… Read more »
Pens paid a premium price for reaves
This is what happens when Sid is forced to take Letang to all-star weekend. Now Sid sucks.
Can’t wait for another meltdown video in 2020 when the democrats lose again
Still have at least 3 more years of tears. Provides quality entertainment.
I wonder if Mrs. DJT will drive solo to more presidential events?
Who the hell cares? Maybe she’ll ride the bus
I’ll wait to read Simply Dusty’s take on Murray’s game tonight. I’ll wait till he breaks down Jarry’s WBS game film. Idiot. #insultposting
As Yoda would say the numbers don’t lie. Jarry 2.44gaa & .919sv%, Murray 2.90gaa & .906sv%. Therefore there’s no debating Jarry>Murray.
#couldn’tresist
Geno with the EN extending Sids streak
Geno with the tying goal, gwg and dagger to keep Sid’s streak alive. All 5v5. What a player.
For those missing the SOTU address, Trump is really proud of President Obama’s economy.
You mean the one created by the GOP Congress while Obama happened to be in office.
I agree, Obama is a hell of a leader.
12 greatest president of all time, no doubt
Hell of a leader to raise more unemployment and bums like you that care about #BlackCocksMatter
Fucking Letang
Malkin extending his 5v5 scoring lead. Primary by Phil.
Pens letting Murray dry a little bit, i think??
36 shots in two periods. Need to let him dry.
Nice, Geno and Kessel bail out Letang… seeing a Burns make that error takes some bite off how shit Letang has been but that’s only due to a low bar move.
If Sid can stop coughing the puck up this game the Pens could put them to sleep as Crosby maintains that streak… my pool demands this to be true
Letang for Pacioretty. Get it done. Tired of seeing him hurt this team and waste cap space. We could use a left winger and he’s a complete player and I’d love to see him with Sid.
Letang is useless.
It blows my mind that he was an all star this year
He can’t stop hurting this team, when does he figure it out, I don’t wanna lose a season because our superstar blueliner can’t slide his head out of his ass
Toomqr: “Sam sucks”
letang is a turnover machine
Not sure who remembers this but it’s sam trying out for his favourite team… we just don’t get the wink here
https://youtu.be/SQJRUKSfrZY
The Pens better score 3 or 4 goals to get the W, tonight!!! Ya know Murray is giving up at least 3.
But it’s never Murray’s fault its teams fault yet when fleury was in net it was always a his fault team never let him dry specially that db pee wee hockey system that he learned by watching mighty ducks movies
you understand yoda was the only idiot to blame things on fleury
That’s easy. Fleury is French Canadian and Murray isn’t
They never let him dry.
Ironic, for you the opposite is true. There was a very small contingent that laid all of the teams struggles on MAF and the guy that was the cheerleader on the subject is mostly gone… unless one considers that you are doing the exact same thing with Murray…
Lmao I know!!!! When has Matt Murray ever turned in a quality goaltending performance ??!?!?!111/!?!/111.
Idiot.
Fuk you…..You’re the idiot!!
Truth!
Look kids, it’s Simply Dusty’s retarded friend. Jackass!
Yeah, you and your wonderful posts, you dick face, fuk up!!!
Letestu stinks
It obviously hurts the teams chances in the playoffs by adding a French Canadian. Those guys just disappear when it matters most.
Sheahan has filled in for Cullen, he is not a 3rd line guy and neither is Sheahan so it’s a moot point to make. I don’t think Letestu is the answer here either. If the Pens need to make a couple moves to make room for a Pageau type I would rather have him in the roster over the others named so far, even if that means sam will be trying to send him dic pics through this page for the next year or two. The idea that Bozak worked with Kessel because he was right handed and not because… Read more »
If you trade Sheary for Pageau then there is no salary difference- it’s a wash –
this is true, something for the Pens to consider if Ottawa is willing to take salary back