Penguins, Sergei Murashov shut out Predators
Sergei Murashov is largely viewed as the Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender of a promising future.
On Sunday, they simply needed the rookie to guide them out of a murky present.
Stopping all 21 shots he faced, Murashov recorded his first career win as the Penguins shut out the Nashville Predators, 4-0, at Avicii Arena in Stockholm.
The victory snapped the team’s three-game losing streak (0-1-2) as Murashov leveled his record at 1-1-0.
“(Murashov) looked calm and poised,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said to reporters in Stockholm via audio provided by the team’s media relations department. “He was steady and gave us a chance here today.”
Entering the contest with six players on injured reserve, the Penguins were forced to scratch rookie forward Ville Koivunen due to an undisclosed malady. His absence triggered alterations throughout all four lines.
Left winger Connor Dewar was promoted from the fourth line to the first line, while Kevin Hayes was elevated from the third-line center role to left wing on the second line. Rookie Ben Kindel was moved from right wing on the top line to the center spot of the third line. And Danton Heinen was inserted into the lineup, skating on the right wing of the fourth line.
“We wanted to try some different combinations,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “That’s the reason for the changes.”
Those augmentations appeared to spark a three-goal outburst in the first period for the Penguins.
Defenseman Parker Wotherspoon’s second goal of the season opened the scoring 2:19 into regulation.
Accepting a pass from defensive partner Erik Karlsson at the center point of the offensive zone, Wotherspoon backpedaled a bit to open up space against Predators forward Matthew Wood and chucked a wrister toward the cage. As Penguins fourth-liners Joona Koppanen and Heinen cluttered up the view of goaltender Juuse Saros, the puck sailed by Saros’ glove. Karlsson and Koppanen had assists.
Parker Wotherspoon gets the party started in Stockholm ???? pic.twitter.com/8gTjyVJV16
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) November 16, 2025
Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin’s fifth goal came at 8:08 of the first period.
Corralling a rimmed puck near the left corner of the offensive zone, Malkin fed the puck to the left of the crease to Hayes, who swiped a one-timer that was rejected by Saros’ right leg. The rebound deflected to the end boards, where Malkin recovered it and then attempted to shuffle a short-area pass to the top of the crease for linemate Anthony Mantha. Predators defenseman Nicolas Hague broke up the sequence with his left skate but wound up booting the puck into the cage. Malkin was credited with the goal off assists from Hayes and Mantha.
"MATINEE MALKIN!"
GENO DOES IT AGAIN IN SWEDEN! pic.twitter.com/QCjTIn8BWn
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) November 16, 2025
The Penguins went up by a field goal at 10:13 of the opening frame via forward Sidney Crosby’s team-leading 12th goal.
Off some perimeter play in Nashville’s zone, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang settled the puck on the left half wall and whipped a wrister on net, which Saros punched away with his blocker. Off the ensuing rebound in the left circle, Predators defenseman Justin Barron fanned on a clearing attempt and wound up delivering the puck to Crosby, who accepted the charity and lasered a wrister from above the left dot by Saros’ blocker on the near side. There were no assists.
THE BOYS CAME TO PLAY TODAY
SIDNEY CROSBY GOAL pic.twitter.com/J5K9KUaU9E
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) November 16, 2025
Penguins forward Blake Lizotte capped the scoring with his third goal on an empty net at 17:12 of the third period. The score was unassisted.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) November 16, 2025
Notes:
• Murashov became the second goaltender in franchise history to record a shutout in his first career win. The first was Jeff Zatkoff, who made 19 saves in a 3-0 road win against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Nov. 2, 2013.
• Murashov became the 38th goaltender to record a regular season shutout for the franchise.
• Murashov became the 62nd goaltender to record a regular season win for the franchise.
• Murashov became the first member of the 2022 NHL Draft class to record a shutout.
• The Penguins’ last shutout of the Predators happened earlier this calendar year. Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves in a 3-0 home win on Feb. 1.
• Wotherspoon scored his first career game-winning goal.
• The Penguins served as the home team in the neutral site contest.
• Following a 2-1 overtime loss to the Predators in Stockholm on Friday, the Penguins improved their record outside of North America to 3-2-1.
• They previously played the Ottawa Senators in Stockholm to open the 2008-09 season, splitting a pair of games. And at the dawn of the 2000-01 campaign, they shared wins with the Predators in Tokyo.
• Since the start of the 2024-25 season, Crosby and Lizotte lead the Penguins with four empty net goals each.
• Karlsson (122 points) surpassed forward Val Fonteyne (121) for 77th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.
• Penguins defensemen Harrison Brunicke and Matt Dumba were healthy scratches. Brunicke, a rookie, has been a healthy scratch for five consecutive games.
• Predators forward Filip Forsberg, a native of Sweden, appeared in his 800th career game.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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