After serving as the backup goaltender to Tristan Jarry in Monday’s 3-2 overtime home win against the Calgary Flames, Matt Murray will return to the lineup for Wednesday’s home contest against the Vancouver Canucks, according to coach Mike Sullivan.
In four career games against the Canucks, Murray has a 2-2-0 record along with a 2.04 goals against average, a .929 save percentage and two shutouts.
In determining which goaltender to start, Sullivan and staff will consider a player’s individual history against a specific opponent, but given how rarely the Penguins play the non-conference Canucks, Murray’s success against them appears to be irrelevant to this decision.
“We do keep the records of everybody,” Sullivan said. “I’m not sure it really impacts a decision like for today, for example. We try to make the most informed decisions that we can. We try to consider everything, then we figure out what is important and what isn’t.
“In this instance, I’m not sure the body of work is big enough to make any sort of assessment there. We don’t play Vancouver nearly enough times. Really, the focus is on our team right now, the schedule and where it’s at. This is a week where we have four games in six nights and both guys are going to get work.”
The Penguins play on the road against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday and the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
