Murray could be out for Penguins against Panthers

CRANBERRY, Pa. --Matt Murray is day to day with an upper-body injury that could sideline him when the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SNE, SNO, FS-F, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV).

The 24-year-old goalie did not practice Wednesday after making 28 saves in a 4-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. He has lost four of his past six starts after winning his previous nine since returning from a lower-body injury that had him out nine games.
Murray's injury is not a concussion, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.
Goalie Casey DeSmith could start Thursday and center Evgeni Malkin likely will miss a fourth straight game. Malkin has not practiced since sustaining an upper-body injury in a 4-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 30. The 32-year-old center is day to day.
Murray and Malkin will travel with the Penguins, Sullivan said. Defenseman Justin Schultz, who took full contact for a third straight practice Wednesday, also will travel after missing 49 games with a fractured left leg.

Pittsburgh recalled goalie Tristan Jarry on an emergency basis from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. The 23-year-old is 0-1-1 with a 3.50 goals-against average and .887 save percentage in two NHL starts this season.
The Penguins (28-19-6) are 1-2-0 without Malkin and 3-6-0 in their past nine games after going 10-1-0 in their previous 11 games.
"I'm not going to sit here and point fingers," Sullivan said. "It takes the whole group day in and day out in order to have consistent success. Everybody has to buy in to how we're trying to play the game."
Murray is 15-9-1 with a 2.97 GAA, .909 save percentage and three shutouts in his fourth NHL season. He won four of his first five starts this season before losing his next five (0-4-1) and was pulled after allowing three goals on 10 shots in the first period of a 6-4 loss at the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 17.
Before missing nine games with a lower-body injury following the loss to Ottawa, Murray was out three games with a concussion sustained Oct. 6 against the Montreal Canadiens before returning in a 3-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 18.
DeSmith is 13-9-4 with a 2.69 GAA, .918 save percentage and two shutouts in his second NHL season. He has lost three of his past four starts and allowed at least four goals in each of those losses.
The Penguins likely will look different elsewhere in the lineup as well.
Sullivan moved Nick Bjugstad from second-line center to first-line right wing, Matt Cullen to second line center from the same position on the fourth line and Tanner Pearson from second-line left wing to left wing on the fourth line on Wednesday.
Bjugstad and forward Jared McCann will face their former Panthers teammates Friday for the first time since they were acquired by the Penguins in a trade for centers Derick Brassard and Riley Sheahan and three draft picks on Feb. 1.

Each of Pittsburgh's three defense pairs also was changed, most notably separating the pair of Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin.
Letang skated with Marcus Pettersson and Dumoulin was with Jack Johnson.
"There's always competition for roles and ice time," Sullivan said. "That's the nature of the business we're in. I don't think we're any different than any other team in the League. I just think that's what we all sign up for. It's a competitive league and there's a lot of good players."
Phil Kessel, who remained at second-line right wing, said he thought some changes were inevitable.
"We had some injuries. [Malkin] is out, so lines are going to switch," Kessel said. "They're obviously going to change a little bit here until we get something going."