With Tristan Jarry sent to AHL, Matt Murray to return for Penguins' Tuesday game
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, 3/19/18
Mike Sullivan after Penguins practice on Matt Murray’s availability, the importance of winning the division title and on his team’s recent penalty killing.
In a sign of Matt Murray's health after he practiced fully for the second time Monday in his return from a concussion, the Penguins re-assigned Tristan Jarry to their American Hockey League affiliate.
Before the roster move and after Murray made it through Monday's practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex unscathed, coach Mike Sullivan said Murray was "an option" to start Tuesday night's game in Brooklyn against the New York Islanders.
Murray has not played since suffering concussion in practice Feb. 26.
"He had a real strong practice today," Sullivan said early Monday afternoon in Cranberry Township. "We will see how he responds, and we will make the decisions accordingly."
The biggest of those decisions, apparently, was made soon thereafter in the sending of Jarry to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Jarry had allowed 19 goals in 340 minutes since Murray's injury, posting an .883 save percentage. The 22-year-old who had been with the Penguins on an emergency basis was sent down in time for him to join the AHL Penguins on a three-game roadtrip.
The move hands – for now, at least – the backup job to 26-year-old Casey DeSmith, who has allowed 11 goals in 204 minutes with an .893 save percentage since Murray's injury.
For the season, DeSmith is 4-4-1 with a 2.59 GAA and .914 save percentage; Jarry 14-6-2/2.77/.908.
The Penguins lost the first two games after Murray was injured and are 5-3-1 overall since he was struck in the head by a puck shot by a teammate. After skating on his own several times and gradually facing shots, Murray returned to full practice Saturday.
Video: Matt Murray on the idea of wrapping his head in bubble wrap. (Spoiler: He's against it.) https://t.co/GlRaqrXXd4
— Jonathan Bombulie (@BombulieTrib) March 17, 2018
Zach Aston-Reese, Carter Rowney and Dominik Simon were the only players unaccounted for at Penguins practice Monday.
Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.
