Pittsburgh Penguins Sergei Murashov
It is a temporary assignment. Probably. Pittsburgh Penguins goalie prospect Sergei Murashov made his balleyhooed NHL debut Sunday and was promptly treated enthusiastically well by the fans and characteristically poorly by his new NHL teammates on the ice.
The Penguins punted a third period lead, losing to the LA Kings 3-2 at PPG Paints Arena. Of course, all careers begin with the tense rookie lap.
Murashov, who was recalled last week following the lower-body injury to Tristan Jarry, then embarked on his Penguins career by facing odd-man rushes resulting from poor puck management by star players and breakaways from poor defending. In other words, he was treated like every Penguins goalie since Ronald Reagan was president.
Which is also when Russian players began defecting from the Soviet Union and were ultimately allowed to come to the NHL.
Murashov flashed a quick glove hand and good game awareness on Sunday. He gave the Penguins a chance to win. He also flashed a sense of humor and awareness of his new fanbase, thanking fans for coming to the game before watching the Steelers play in primetime.
“Penguins fans were really, really supportive of me. I felt it, and I truly appreciate it. For everyone who came for the building today instead of watching the Steelers–I know it’s a game today,” Murashov said through a quick smile. “I didn’t read all these (fans’ signs) because I was focusing on myself, but definitely it’s a great building, great city, great people here, so I truly appreciate that.”
Not bad for a 21-year-old Russian speaking his second language, eh?
On his way up the ladder through the Penguins organization, Murashov set organization and league records last season when he made his North American debut after splitting time between the MHL and KHL in 2023-24.
Upon his arrival, Murashov promptly set a Wheeling Nailers and ECHL rookie record by winning 13 straight games.
He followed up that feat, setting a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins record by winning 10 games in a row.
In his NHL debut, Murashov stopped 24 of 27 shots Sunday, but couldn’t stop the third-period odd-man rush yielded by Penguins stars Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, or the breakaway when Kevin Fiala whizzed past Erik Karlsson.
Perhaps he’ll get used to that part of the Penguins’ DNA, though the Penguins were clearly the better team through the first two periods. They carried the play against LA, but couldn’t deliver the knockout blow.
“It’s hard to say right now (what I liked about my game). I think I need some time just to watch the video and see what I can do better, what was good,” said Murashov. “Overall, I just liked how I felt for the game. I enjoyed it. Again, just huge thanks to my team because it’s the third game in four days and and they were battling. The efforts were really high from them, and (I’ll) just take some time and definitely come back to this game to learn it and keep going.”
Murashov’s teammates also noticed his talent.
“He’s so good. You can tell just from watching him practice. It’s cool to be a part of his debut,” said Tommy Novak. “I’m no goalie expert, but there is not much not to like there– So athletic and so poised, an impressive young goalie. I’m sure you all will be watching him for a long time.”
Bryan Rust had similar praise for the rookie.
“It was awesome. He’s an unbelievable goalie. He made some big saves for us,” Rust said. “I think we would like to be a little bit better in front of him and not give them some of those Grade A’s that we did.”
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