3/22: Ahead of their Sunday afternoon game in Chicago the Predators reassigned Murray to AHL Milwaukee. Still awaiting his debut with Nashville, the 28-year-old did not appear in a game, as Annunen won both games with excellent play in goal, headlined by a 40-save effort against Vegas. Saros has returned to action, getting the nod today.
3/19: The Nashville Predators had to change plans just before puck drop in Thursday night’s game against the Seattle Kraken. The team recalled depth goaltender Matt Murray to back up Justus Annunen after it was revealed that Juuse Saros would miss the game with an upper-body injury. The injury was sustained at morning practice, per Alex Daughterty of The Tennessean.
Murray is having to travel away from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, who are on their own road trip through Canada, to fill his recall to the NHL. He is traveling from Winnipeg to Nashville and is expected to arrive in the second half of the game, per NHL.com’s Brooks Bratten. That news will likely necessitate an emergency backup goalie in the stands for the first half of the game, though Nashville did not officially sign any temporary tryouts.
Saros is officially listed as out day-to-day. His absence will leave big shoes to fill after the veteran goaltender posted wins in four of his last five games, including back-to-back shootout wins. He has faced an average of 31 shots against since March 1st and posted a .910 save percentage in that stretch. That stretch has far outperformed Saros’ season-long performance, marked by 24 wins and a .894 save percentage in 51 games.
The Predators haven’t found much more relief in turning to backup Annunen, who has six wins and a .888 save percentage in 21 games this season. He has matched the save percentage he posted in 23 games with the Predators last season, after joining the team in a December 2024 trade that sent Scott Wedgewood to the Colorado Avalanche. Annunen will stand as the de facto starter if Saros is forced to miss additional time, as Murray hasn’t played in the NHL since the Dallas Stars’ 2023-24 season. He recorded a shutout in his last NHL contest.
Murray has spent this season in command of the Admirals’ starting crease. He has recorded 17 wins and a .908 save percentage in 37 games: team-highs in all three stats. His stat line was much stronger in his debut with the Admirals last season, when Murray posted 28 wins and a .932 save percentage in 43 games. He will offer extra hands if Nashville runs into another goalie injury – though the team should go back to their usual pairing of Saros and Annunen as soon as the former is back to health.
This confused the heck out of me, cause the kraken also have a Matt Murray goaltender who is their third string goalie…
Yes, I needed to click on the player link as well to find out which Murray it was :D
It used to be we’d refer to this Matt Murray as “the other Matt Murray” to avoid confusion. At least this one is less likely to get two for delay of game for knocking the net off, accidentally/on-purpose.
@Mac – Did I not call this; the Preds are the upside down team. They trade away a bunch of players at the deadline and proceed to now being in a playoff spot. If they added McDavid and MacKinnon to the roster they’d go on a 10 game losing streak. 🤷♂️
@Gbear – Who’d a thunk it, right? There was no way many or any of us thought they would be in contention for any playoff spot, based on the last year or so, but here they are. That guy wearing #91 is supposed to be washed up, yet could hit 40, or close to it. It’s almost like they did get a bump from the GMBT news. You know Bruno’s systems/approach probably hasn’t changed that much, right? 🤔
@Mac – The Preds are blessed by the ineptitude of the Pacific Division.
@Gbear – We could call the Pacific the “Oh, brother, what now” division. In Calgary, the postgame callers/texters are torn between rage and giddiness when the team wins. The ragers want the “L”s, thinking it’s all but guaranteed to get McKenna, when we all know that’s a bit of a stretch. Not impossible, but not a lock, either. Those that are happier realize the team needs to build good habits, win, lose or draw. In the VGK realm, they are frustrated and aggravated at the quality of play all over the ice, but especially between the pipes. Jack has no PPGs, which is mystifying. EDM is in a similar boat, with their inconsistent play. The Azzkrapen are irrelevant, as usual, and the Kings’ coaching swap has D.J. at 4-4-4 as of this writing. You’d think that team would go full bore and give Kopi one last shot in the playoffs. Could turn out to be a waste of eight days, but they’d at least get in for him. And, pulling up the rear are our favorite Canucks. They pitched some of their miscreants overboard, yet not much has changed. The tragedy that is Demko’s health issues continue, which is a shame.
@Mac – A succinct breakdown of the pillow fight division. 😄
I like the way someone described the Kings trade deadline: half pregnant. 😂
@Gbear – And, speaking of the “pillow fight” division, I ran across this clip that Gene Principe did with a young fan:
link to youtu.be
🤣😂
Big Juice was great Thursday