CRANBERRY, Pa. -- For all we know, come Thursday night at 7:38, Matt Murray will stand in his proper place at PPG Paints Arena, scraping the ice chips from his crease and getting ready for, oh, three hours of rejecting everything the Golden Knights rip his way.
And for all we know, he won't.
For days. For weeks. For months. For ... ugh.
Concussions are scary stuff. Multiple concussions are scarier still. So if we're having the candid conversation this subject deserves in the context of modern science, the Penguins' announcement Tuesday that Murray is concussed yet again should have sent at least a small shudder through the spine of the franchise as a whole, and Jim Rutherford's in particular.
First and foremost, obviously, comes the health of the individual. I can't discuss hockey before mentioning that this is a wonderful human being, every bit as warm and compassionate as his predecessor who'll be in this building the same night. There's a reason that, when our staff was interviewing Marc-Andre Fleury yesterday in Washington, Fleury had more questions and concerns about Murray than answers on any other topic. Murray's worth that.
But the hockey matters, too. And Murray's history of winning two Stanley Cups in as many NHL summers might soon be getting engulfed by his history of getting hurt, now at an official count of three lower-body injuries, two upper-body injuries and a third concussion, all since being promoted for good from the AHL in March of 2016, all in a span of only 147 NHL games played, including playoffs.
That's not good.
Also not good: Neither Casey DeSmith nor Tristan Jarry is an NHL starter. The Penguins can't, won't -- and shouldn't -- say that, but I will and have. DeSmith will never be that, and Jarry, as he showed again in a seesaw preseason, is another year or two of poise away from coming close to that. One or both can manage for a spell, but that's it.
Regardless, Rutherford needs to get on the horn, assuming he isn't already. This is the GM who, commendably, has emphasized over-the-top goaltending depth going back to his days in Raleigh and highlighted by his famously pleading with Jeff Zatkoff to hang around as the No. 3 to Fleury and Murray in 2016.
Remember how that turned out?
Backup goaltending help isn't expensive, since most NHL teams need to keep that roster cost low to manage the salary cap. So Rutherford will have room under his own cap to accommodate another. Maybe it's a serviceable type such as Zatkoff. Maybe it's an up-and-comer who's further along than Jarry. Maybe it's even someone more suitable for sharing duties with Murray, provided the price works.
The window of contention, as everyone acknowledges, is now.
The most important position, as everyone knows, is goal.
Waiting and hoping probably won't work.
• Sullivan specified that Murray was hurt in the Penguins' practice Monday and not the most recent game Saturday. There's no reason to doubt that, but I can't help but look back, anyway, at Montreal's Brendan Gallagher cutting across the crease on his first-period goal and making significant contact with Murray's head:
• When Olli Maatta's going well, no one mentions his skating. When he's going poorly, it's cited by everyone.
Isn't skating just skating?
I've brought this up countless times with Maatta ever since his major hip injury three years ago -- the one where he gruesomely fell into the open Minnesota bench door -- and he hates discussing it. He sees no difference in his skating before or since or, for that matter, anytime he'll currently lapse into a slump. And again yesterday, his sole response when pressed about his performance through two games was, "I've got to be better. It's definitely not good enough."
Here's what I think, based on talking this over with others in the Penguins' world: Maatta needs to keep his feet moving at all times to maintain NHL speed, maybe more than anyone else on the corps. Think about his peak showings in Pittsburgh, including the most recent playoffs, and he was outstanding primarily because he was active and visible at both ends.
On the contrary, when he stops, he really stops. And he can't just jump right back into the action the way, say, Kris Letang can. He doesn't have that extra 0-to-60 step to make up for mistakes. As a result, when this happens ...
... meaning the Canadiens' Paul Byron bolting across the Pittsburgh blue line for a breakaway goal Saturday night, Byron's extra step from a semi-standstill blows away Maatta's.
The solution?
Skate all over. Create at both ends, make sharp decisions in all facets, but primarily just keep moving. When Maatta does that, he's already in motion for a Byron or whoever and seldom looks like he's behind.
• Trouble is, Jack Johnson, who's a better overall skater, also brings a lot of the long circles to his stride, probably more than anyone on the Penguins at any position. And, if you'll look again at the Byron goal up there, you'll see Johnson making a turn that's roughly the circumference of our planet in reversing course.
That's one of a billion reasons I didn't understand the Maatta/Johnson pairing and am delighted it's already been broken up.
Take a trip down memory lane with the @penguins classic gold @adidashockey threads. ??? pic.twitter.com/ggYOrLbxFr
— NHL (@NHL) October 9, 2018
• The Penguins' alternate sweaters, among the NHL's last to be unveiled for this season, are more pointless than anything.
If you want a retro edition from when Mario Lemieux entered the league in the 1980s, this isn't it, primarily because it doesn't carry the gold down over the shoulders but also because it mindbogglingly eliminated the golden triangle from the uniform of the city that's famous for its, you know, Golden Triangle.
And if you want something in the spirit of the Stadium Series sweaters from Heinz Field a couple years ago, chances are you've either already got one or didn't want one in the first place.
So, what was the point?
Massive failing marks to the NHL and adidas.
• Should the NHL really be doing business with adidas, anyway?
• Is it reasonable to feel, on one hand, that hockey would be a far better sport without fighting and, on the other hand, agree with pretty much every syllable Ryan Reaves spoke yesterday in his extraordinary exclusive interview with our site?
Good, because that's where I am.
Here's the entire work, on location from Washington, by our Cody Tucker and Matt Sunday.
• Antonio Brown is being sued amid an accusation that he hurled furniture out the window that nearly struck a toddler. I sure wouldn't take any such accusation lightly, but I'd rather wait to pass judgment on anyone.
At the same time, let's talk a little about how the TMZ types are suddenly, relentlessly tailing big-name Steelers:
• Speaking of the Steelers never escaping scrutiny, JuJu Smith-Schuster inadvertently crashed our subscriber meetup last night in Lawrenceville. Then left. Quickly. Stuff you can't possibly make up.
• On an infinitely more serious tone, it's hard to imagine what any of the Steelers, much less Ryan Shazier himself, will experience upon entering Paul Brown Stadium this Sunday morning. Heck, I can't even imagine what I'll be thinking after having covered that event, and I don't matter in the slightest.
Mike Tomlin's public face on this, from that night and onward, has been pitch-perfect, I've thought. He's been intensely, visibly supporting of Shazier and, at the same time, he's never used the situation as some abstract motivator, nor, for that matter, allowed it detract the focus that football demands on an everyday business.
He got this week off to a good start, then, with this response to a question on the subject yesterday at his press conference: "We’ll kind of know that when we get there. I’m sure there will be in some form or fashion, but we haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about it to this point."
I believe him. But I also believe it's intended in the best possible spirit: Shazier's just another guy around the team these days. And he's made so many strides -- and boy, do I mean that literally -- that he's not going to seek any sort of deep emotion from anyone else.
• Also from Tomlin's press conference, was a first-class move expressing condolences and support to the Duquesne football program for the tragic fall and death of junior running back Marquis Brown.
Out of respect, I'll publish Tomlin's opening remarks in full for anyone on the Bluff who might have missed them:
"Good afternoon. First, we thought organizationally it was important that we show our support to our brothers and sisters at the Duquesne football program and the university as they deal with a very difficult loss of a team member. We also just thought it was appropriate as members of this community that we make some statement in support of them, as I am sure others have, and we’ll continue to do as they work through what is a difficult time. Our sympathies go out to them and we pray for them as they move forward, not only just dealing with what happened, but the challenges that a season presents to a football team."
• Andrew McCutchen grounded out as a pinch-hitter last night as the Yankees were eliminated by the Red Sox in the American League Division Series. He finished these playoffs 2 for 18 with a walk and three strikeouts.
In eight playoff games for the Pirates, spread over three consecutive Octobers, he was 9 for 28 with a double and six walks, good for a .321 average and .454 on-base percentage, figures that would do any player proud that time of year. But because there were no truly memorable hits in there, only one for extra bases and only one RBI, he'll probably get painted as some kind of playoff bum by a big portion of the fan base forever.
All that matters out of any of this: We're talking about 46 total at-bats. For a guy who's now logged 5,674. That's .008 percent of his career.
Bill Mazeroski himself will tell you that no player should ever be defined by his playoffs, even if that's the single greatest moment in his sport's history. Not in baseball. Not when there are 162 games followed by a handful. In my dealings with Maz, he's spoken with pride of his durability and, of course, his brilliant defense. Almost never the home run.
• Similarly, Neil Walker last night came through with an RBI single, and he was hit by a pitch as part of the Yankees' ninth-inning rally that fell just short. But he also went 1 for 4 in a series where he was barely used -- Game 4 was his only start -- and he's now 3 for 35 in his playoff career.
Anyone care to classify Walker as some choker?
Save these arguments for football, where every playoff game represents a huge percentage of a total season. Or even hockey, where four rounds of best-of-seven series give athletes a much fairer chance to show their best selves.
• Thanks to everyone for the kind birthday wishes yesterday, especially those who came out last night to Lawrenceville for one of the biggest, most engaged meetups we've ever had. That level of support is never taken for granted, trust me, not by me and not by anyone else on the staff.