It’s no secret that there were some Pittsburgh Penguins fans who wanted goaltender Sergei Murashov to come up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
He got a taste of the NHL during a two-week stretch in November and also played in one game in December before he was sent back to WBS. During that time, he recorded his first win (a shutout over Nashville in Sweden), but also endured some growing pains.
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Fast forward to the end of the regular season, and the Penguins’ goaltending was inconsistent, leading some fans to think that Murashov was the best option heading into the playoffs.
The Penguins didn’t feel that way, opting to keep him in the American Hockey League for the rest of the regular season and into the Calder Cup Playoffs. He finished the regular season with a 24-9-4 record, a 2.20 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.
Murashov was the 1A goaltender with Joel Blomqvist serving as the 1B behind him. WBS head coach Kirk MacDonald rewarded Murashov for his excellent regular season with the starting job in the Atlantic Division Semifinals against the Hershey Bears and he didn’t disappoint.
Murashov won three of the four games in the series, compiling a 1.99 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage. He also stepped up in a big way in Game 4, finishing with 37 saves on 38 shots.
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As the series went on, Murashov got better. One save that really stood out was in Game 2 when WBS was down 2-1 in the third period. WBS gave up a 3-on-1 rush, but it didn’t matter for Murashov as he stayed with the play and was able to make a sprawling save after it looked like he had lost the net.
WBS may have lost that game, but he gave them a chance throughout the third period with big, timely saves like that one.
Fast forward to Game 4 (his 37-save performance), he was stepping up when he was needed, especially when Hershey was firing everything at him in the third period. He was cool, calm, and collected in the crease and didn’t seem phased by the moment. His rebound control was also very good, and he continued to look more confident.
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He’ll have to bring all of those traits into the Atlantic Division Final series against Springfield, which is set to start in WBS on Tuesday. It’s WBS’s first trip to the Atlantic Division Final since 2016. A series win against Springfield would send WBS to the Eastern Conference Final, where it would await the winner of the Cleveland-Toronto series, which is the North Division Final.
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If Murashov keeps this up, Penguins general manager/president Kyle Dubas would likely have no choice but to put him on the NHL roster for the start of the 2026-27 season. He’s already in a good spot since it’s unlikely that Stuart Skinner returns as one of the goaltenders, but this would be the icing on the cake, unless he somehow has a poor training camp or preseason.
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Game 1 between WBS and Springfield is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. Game 2 will be on Thursday at the same time before the series shifts to Springfield for Games 3 and 4 on May. 19 and May. 21. The start time for those latter two games will also be at 7 p.m. ET.
A potential Game 5 would be back in WBS on May. 23 at 6 p.m. ET.
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