Matt Murray kept out of Penguins’ loss for ‘sense’ not injury

With 24 seconds left in the first period at the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night, Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray fell to the ice, losing his mask after colliding with Evgeni Malkin.

He had played 19:36 and given up two goals on 14 shots. And just like that, his night was over.

The rookie netminder was replaced by Marc-Andre Fleury, who gave up a goal to T.J. Oshie with eight seconds left in the first for a 3-0 Capitals lead. Fleury finished the contest, giving up five goals on 25 shots in the 7-1 rout.

There was some concern that Murray, who entered the game with a 4-0-0 record and a .961 save percentage since returning from a hand injury, had potentially suffered a concussion on the play.

But he went through the protocol and was deemed fine … even if Murray didn’t believe he needed it.

“I had to go through the (concussion) protocol, which I think is a little bit unnecessary. I think I was fine,” he told the AP.

But Murray didn’t come back to play the second period, despite being healthy enough to do so. Why?

“I thought it made sense for a lot of reasons. I just thought it made sense,” said coach Mike Sullivan.

Well that’s sensible.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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