Matt Murray’s 3-6 week injury not a game changer in goaltending situation

On The Penguins’ Goaltending Situation

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Marc Andre Fleury is determined to get his starting job back.

For at least the next three weeks, Fleury has his net back.

After being evaluated by team doctors, the Penguins learned this morning that goaltender Matt Murray has a broken right hand that will sideline him three to six weeks.

It was a surprising development for team officials to learn based on the reports they received from Team North America. Murray was injured against Russia in the second period on September 19.

The Penguins open the season October 13 vs the Washington Capitals and have a busy stretch of games to open the year with nine games in 16 days (Oct 13 – Oct 29).

If Murray’s recovery time is more short-term in the three week range, he projects to only miss a few games at the most. Three weeks from today is October 15 when the Penguins play the Anaheim Ducks at home. Internally the Penguins believe the recovery will be more in the range of three to four weeks than six weeks.

A full six week recovery, which is said to be unlikely, would have Murray missing around 10 games.

One bright spot for the Penguins is Murray already had a training camp due to playing for North America, so he shouldn’t need much practice time once deemed healthy to play.

What does this mean for Marc Andre Fleury?

Nothing really in the long-term picture this season.

While the Penguins goaltending battle will now be delayed, even if Fleury plays lights out for the first couple weeks of the season while Murray is sidelined, Fleury fully regaining his starting job is still going to come down to Murray playing himself out of the job, not an injury 19 days before the season opener.

Tristan Jarry moves into the backup role during camp. [/hide]

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