Penguins notebook: Torn hamstring kept goalie Murray out of playoff opener
When goalie Matt Murray limped off the ice in the middle of warm-ups before the Penguins playoff opener two months ago, he didn't suffer a tweak, a twist or a sprain.
The lower-body injury that sidelined the 23-year-old goaltender was, in fact, a torn hamstring.
Murray revealed those details as the Penguins got together one last time for exit physicals, meetings and locker cleanout Thursday at PPG Paints Arena.
Murray said he couldn't pinpoint when his hamstring started to give him problems, but the moment he was sure it wasn't something he could play through was abundantly clear.
“I felt it go in that warm-up,” Murray said.
Murray was cleared to return to action about a month later and went 7-3 with a .937 save percentage the rest of the playoffs, closing things out with shutout victories in the last two games of the Stanley Cup Final.
“I think I got back pretty quickly, and I think I came back stronger than I did before,” Murray said.
Several of Murray's teammates also revealed details of injuries they played through during the playoffs.
• Carl Hagelin said he broke his fibula March 8 in Winnipeg. He played on it two days later in Edmonton, then shut it down until Game 2 of the Washington series April 29. “It didn't really heal the way it should,” Hagelin said. “It should take four to six weeks. After five weeks, there wasn't much healing in there. I took another week off. In the Washington series, I wanted to get back and play. It didn't feel great at first. It wasn't probably until the Nashville series where I actually felt like I could do what I wanted to do, and my leg felt somewhat normal.”
• Brian Dumoulin said he suffered a hand injury at the end of the Columbus series. “It didn't seem to heal at all throughout the playoffs at all,” he said. “It's good now to give it some rest and figure out what's going on with it.”
• Justin Schultz said the injury that cost him four games of the Eastern Conference finals was a broken rib. His defense partner, Ian Cole, previously revealed he played with a broken hand and broken ribs. “Any injury that I had should get better with rest and time off and not getting run through the boards anymore,” Cole said. “So that'll be good.”
Retirement talk
Matt Cullen continues to sound as though he's leaning toward retirement at age 40, though he said if he does come back for another season, he can't imagine it being with a team other than the Penguins.
“It's a decision you only make one time,” Cullen said. “I want to give it some time and be sure.”
Chris Kunitz, 37, said he has given no thought to retiring.
“I feel pretty good out there,” Kunitz said. “I can still go out and compete and have fun.”
Parade MVPs
Olli Maatta and Justin Schultz arrived at team facilities looking none the worse for wear, which was an upset given how vigorously they celebrated at the victory parade the day before.
A photo of Schultz guzzling a beer while walking down the Boulevard of the Allies became a social media hit.
“My buddies were texting me, and I was seeing all the pictures that I was photoshopped in chugging a beer,” Schultz said. “It was pretty funny. I don't know. I was having a good time. Let's do it again.”
A camera captured Maatta sleeping on an apartment balcony shortly after the parade ended. The Finnish defenseman called it a “power nap.”
“I had a phenomenal time,” he said.
Front office shake-up
In the wake of associate general manager Jason Botterill's departure for Buffalo, GM Jim Rutherford has slightly restructured the Penguins front office.
Bill Guerin remains assistant GM but takes on the added responsibility of being Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's general manager in the AHL.
Jason Karmanos' title changed from vice president of hockey operations to assistant GM. Mark Recchi went from development coach to director of player development.
Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter at @BombulieTrib.
