TORONTO -- Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray joins the list of participants whose start of the NHL season will be impacted by an injury suffered during the World Cup of Hockey.
The Penguins announced Saturday that Murray will miss three to six weeks with a broken hand, which he suffered during Team North America's loss to the Russians on Sept. 19. In that game, Murray allowed four goals on 19 shots and was pulled in favor of John Gibson in the second period.
Murray told reporters after the game that he jammed his thumb in the second period and tried to play through it. As it turns out, the injury was more significant than originally thought, and he didn't play the rest of the tournament as Gibson started the final game against Sweden.
This Penguins will raise the Stanley Cup banner when they open their regular season against the Washington Capitals on Oct. 13, and the game may not feature one of the players most responsible for winning that Cup.
The 22-year-old Murray was 15-6 with a 2.08 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage during the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs.
If Murray isn't ready to start the season, it's an opportunity for longtime former starter Marc-Andre Fleury to reclaim his top spot. Fleury was the starter for most of last season for the Penguins, and played well with a .921 save percentage in 58 regular-season games before being sidelined with a concussion.
Fleury played in two games during the postseason last spring, starting one, and stopped 28 of the 32 shots he faced during the playoffs.