NEW YORK -- After 24 days and nine games, Matt Murray returns to the Penguins net.
Mike Sullivan announced prior to Tuesday night's game against the Islanders at Barclays Center Murray will indeed be his starter ending days of speculation following a four-day layoff.
"He's had a couple strong practices, he feels really good and, obviously, our medical staff and Matt himself have a comfort level that he's ready to play and so he's an important guy for us," Sullivan said. "We're excited to get him back in the net."
Murray had been sidelined by a concussion, his third extended absence this season following a knee injury in late November and the death of his father in January.
Each time, Murray has bounced back with the same confidence according to Sullivan:
Prior to his latests hiatus, Murray was playing his best hockey of the season, winning his last five starts. He is 23-13-2 on the season with a .909 save percentage and 2.82 GAA.
With the Penguins two points out of first place in the jammed-again Metro Division, Murray's return comes at an ideal time with 10 games remaining in the regular season.
"It's a big boost for our guys, they know how good he is, how important he is to this team," Sullivan said. "(It) certainly should give our team a boost of confidence to play in front of him. He's an important guy for us and this is an important time of year."
Casey DeSmith will serve as Murray's backup after the team announced on Monday Tristan Jarry was reassigned to Wilkes-Barre. Sullivan warned not too read too much into that. The Penguins are allowed four emergency recalls following the trade deadline, and it would seem the organization didn't want to burn its final one on a goalie when they have confidence in both.
DeSmith and Jarry, both rookies, have been rotating back and forth between the AHL and NHL without having to clear waivers.
"We've jockeyed those two guys in Wilkes-Barre and up here just to make sure we continue to get them games to continue their development," Sullivan said. "Those are two really good goaltenders and we believe in both of them. Moving forward, I think performance and how the games play out will dictate how the decision that we make (goes) moving forward. But these are two guys that we're really excited about."
• Patric Hornqvist recorded his 20th goal of the season and the 400th career point last week in Montreal becoming the 32nd all-time scoring leader among Swedish-born players. Sullivan was obviously thrilled for the power forward.
"He's a unique player for our roster, he does a lot of those little things that are hard to quantify that help your team win," he said.
• Sullivan had no comments on speculation coming from this week's general managers' meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., that the league may cede all replay powers to the Toronto office.
"We'll let the general managers and the league figure out the goalie interference," he said.
• Sullivan rarely talks about his assistant coaches but did have some kind words for 65-year-old assistant coach Jacques Martin.
"I could go on forever and tell you what he means to me," Sullivan said. "He's a guy that brings a whole lot of wisdom and experience to our coaching staff. I think he's a voice of reason. He's a guy that's been a coach in this league for close to 20 years. He's worn a lot of hats. He's been a general manger. I don't think there's a job in hockey ops that Jacques hasn't held over the course of his career. I think the players really like him and respect him. Certainly the coaching staff has so much respect for what he brings to our coaching staff. I know he makes me a much better head coach."
Here's the live file for tonight's game and my three keys.