"No emotions."

That was how a totally dejected Sergei Murashov described his feeling following the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' season-ending 3-2 loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday night. Wilkes-Barre was swept in the best-of-three series for the second year in a row.

But Murashov, ever insightful and wise beyond his 21 years, was still able to put the experience into perspective.

"It's part of the journey, part of life," Murashov told me in a one-on-one conversation after the loss. "And this feeling is the greatest motivation for the future."

The decisive Game 2 was Murashov's only game of the series. Joel Blomqvist was injured in Game 1, while Murashov was in the ECHL handling starting duties for the Nailers. Murashov was fine in the game, stopping 28 of 31 shots. But he took responsibility for the loss, saying the "beauty of the playoffs" is that if you win, it means you played great, and if you lost, it meant you needed to be better.

Murashov stopped the Phantoms' first 17 shots before they finally broke through late in the second period after Anthony Richard got past Dan Renouf, and Sebastian Aho lost a puck battle along the boards that led to the assist. The Penguins rallied, and Tristan Broz tied the game on a power play before Harrison Brunicke's first pro goal in the third period put the Penguins on top. But the tying goal came just over a minute later, when Jacob Gaucher was left alone in the slot and knocked in a rebound.

There were two minutes left in regulation when Murashov came up big with a save on the Phantoms' Richard, and the rebound popped out to his left. Aho whiffed on the opportunity to clear the puck, and it slid right to Helge Grans, who fired it past Murashov:

"I just lost it visually," Murashov explained. "It was tough to react. But overall? It already doesn't matter. It's motivation to work hard, motivation to keep going."

Coach Kirk MacDonald said he had "definitely no issues" with Murashov's play in the loss.

"He played great," MacDonald told me. "Two goals were turnovers and lost battles at the net front. ... He bailed us out early and allowed us to get going. Sergei was great."

Even though the result wasn't what Murashov wanted, this was a bounce back performance for him. He started Wheeling's first three games of the playoffs and posted an .857 save percentage and a 3.82 goals-against average in three losses. It was definitely his worst stretch of this season, arguably his worst stretch in a few years. Even in Russia, he was just never someone to string multiple bad games together.

"I had to refocus," Murashov told me of what happened in those games with Wheeling. "I had to find my game again. It's also a good lesson for me. It's a good lesson for how I should stay with my own inner voice and how I should stay with what makes me successful. It's just part of the journey, part of life."

The Nailers avoided being swept on Friday and forced a Game 5 for Saturday. Murashov isn't sure yet if he'll be returning to Wheeling, but he said he'll be "ready to play" if he is to finish the season down there.

It was not a successful season in terms of making a deep run and bringing home a Calder Cup. It was an incredibly disappointing season, given the talent this group has. But for Murashov, it was a great, great year. He exceeded any expectations for his rookie season. He set a few records. And he put himself in a great spot coming into next year's training camp.

"It was a good start here," Murashov said. "I had good moments. I had moments when I can learn. Overall, I liked how this season teaches me how I adjust my game and keep going. Actually, overall, I think it was a good internal, successful season."