Murray concedes his shock over broken-hand diagnosis
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Penguins goalie Matt Murray was “shocked” when he got the diagnosis of a broken hand, likely causing him to miss the start of the regular season.
When Murray got hurt playing for Team North America in the World Cup of Hockey Sept. 19, he initially thought he just jammed his thumb, but an MRI earlier revealed a broken hand with some ligament damage that will keep Murray out three to six weeks.
“I just landed on it,” he said. “I was diving across the net, landed on it and it kind of snapped back.
“I was shocked [by the diagnosis], to be honest. It’s happened to me before where I jammed a thumb, I’m sure everybody’s jammed a thumb. It’s happened to me before, and it usually turns out to be just a contusion-type thing, a bone bruise. That’s what I thought this was.”
Murray, wearing a cast on his right thumb, said he does not feel too much pain in his hand when he’s not using it, but the injury makes it difficult for him to properly grip his stick.
Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said Saturday the Penguins will have a better idea in 10-14 days whether Murray’s return will be closer to the three-week side or the sixweek side of that window, and Murray acknowledged that it’s frustrating not knowing exactly how long he’ll be out.
“It kind of [stinks] not knowing, because I don’t feel that bad to be honest,” Murray said. “It doesn’t hurt as long as I’m not using it. It’s a bit of a weird thing, but this time of year you don’t really want to rush back and push yourself when you don’t need to and have it re-aggravated. That’s going to be the biggest challenge, not pushing myself too hard to come back and then re-injuring it.”
While missing training camp certainly isn’t ideal for Murray, who is entering his first full NHL season, he said playing a few competitive games in the World Cup should help accelerate the process of preparing for the regular season.
“It’s good to get that competition aspect in there so soon, so early in the season,” Murray said. “Unfortunately, now I won’t see it for a little while, but’s something that I’ll come back form 100 percent. I don’t need surgery or anything, which is good. It should be all good.”
Fleury to play tonight
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury will play in the preseason opener tonight against Detroit, coach Mike Sullivan said Monday.
Fleury said earlier that he hoped to get a few preseason games under his belt before heading into the regular season. He has not played regularly since March — ceding the starting role to Murray in the playoffs — but is virtually assured of starting the Penguins 2016-17 opener thanks to Murray’s injury.
The Penguins have three preseason games this week: tonight in Detroit, Wednesday in Chicago and a home game Friday against the Blackhawks. Sullivan said his philosophy in choosing lineups will be trying to mix in new and younger players, while also trying to find combinations of guys who can work together.
“I think when we look at our depth charts, we’re trying to put line combinations or defense pairs together — with each respective lineup — where we give each player an opportunity to play a role that plays to his strengths, and how he’ll help us win in Pittsburgh or in Wilkes-Barre,” Sullivan said.
Injury updates
Center Nick Bonino did not practice Monday after leaving practice Sunday early when he took a shot to the foot. Sullivan did not have a specific update on Bonino’s status, only saying Bonino felt sore when he arrived at practice Monday morning, so the team held him out.
Phil Kessel did not participate in any of the intrasquad scrimmages this week, and it is uncertain whether or not he’ll be able to play in any preseason games. Kessel had hand surgery over the summer, and Sullivan said the team is being cautious with his recovery.
“Ideally, we’d like to get him into one or two [preseason games], but as we get closer to the regular season and we watch him progress, we’ll make those decisions accordingly,” Sullivan said.
Bryan Rust, Matt Cullen and Oskar Sundqvist did not practice for the fourth consecutive day.