The slumping Pitsburgh Penguins have been hit with another injury Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys , as head coach Mike Sullivan said goalie Matt Murray has been placed on the IR and could miss several weeks of action.Josh Getzoff of PensTV reported the news.#Pens HCMS: Matt Murray is going to be out 鈥渓onger-term鈥?with a lower-body injury. Been dealing with this for the last couple of weeks. Evaluated this morning by team doctors. 鈥淭his was not something that we expected鈥?mdash; Josh Getzoff (@PensJG) November 22, 2018The Penguins just got captain Sidney Crosby back on Thursday - a 5-1 victory over the Dallas Stars. Crosby had missed the team's last three games, but he returned in time to help Pittsburgh end its four-game losing streak.Murray backstopped the Penguins to consecutive Stanley Cup Championships in 2016 and 2017. But his career has been completely marred by injuries, as Murray missed time early in the season with a concussion.advertisingOn top of that, Murray missed 12 games last season because of a broken hand. He also聽 dealt with a concussion and both upper and lower-body injuries. The year before he missed more than half of the 2017 postseason with a lower-body injury. Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY SportsThe good news for the Penguins is that backup Casey DeSmith has actually been the better goalie so far www.officialblackhawksproshop.com , so he's capable of shouldering the load while Murray is injured. DeSmith is 4-3-3 with an impressive .924 percentage and 2.39 goals against average.聽The Penguins will rely on DeSmith and the called-up Tristan Jarry while Murray is out.advertisingMurray is struggling at 4-5-1 with a terrible .877 save percentage and 4.08 goals against average. Having to deal with numerous injuries certainly hasn't helped, and the Pens can only hope that some time away will have Murray find his regular form.What This MeansThe Penguins are off to one of their worst starts in franchise history, sitting at 8-8-4 and third-last in the Eastern Conference right now. It's been difficult to win games when Crosby and Murray have been injured, but the Penguins cannot afford another long-term slump without their star goalie.But the Penguins trail the Washington Capitals by just five points (with a game in hand), for the final playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division Chicago Blackhawks T-Shirts Authentic , so it's far too early for fans in the Steel City to start worrying.advertising ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jonathan Toews can feel the rejuvenated spirit permeating through the Blackhawks’ dressing room after they missed the playoffs last season.Toews scored his third goal of the game 2:20 into overtime and Chicago beat the St. Louis Blues 5-4 on Saturday night.“It’s poise across the lineup,” Toews said. “Everyone felt that poise tonight, stuck with it and those are all things we’re looking for and wanted to improve from last year.”Toews tied it 4-all at 6:59 of the third period when he corralled the rebound of Alex DeBrincat’s slap shot and pushed it past Blues goalie Jake Allen.Toews scored the winner on a breakaway to give him his sixth career hat trick, and the Blackhawks their second consecutive overtime victory.“It was a huge two points,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “I liked the way we competed. You get your captain leading the charge like that Chicago Blackhawks Hoodies Authentic , it sets the tone.”Chris Butler put the Blues ahead 4-3 in the third just 22 seconds after Vladimir Tarasenko’s second goal. The goal was Butler’s first in the NHL since March 7, 2015, at Toronto.Cam Ward stopped 26 shots to improve to 2-0. Allen made 25 saves, but he and the Blues have given up five goals in consecutive games.“This is not winning hockey that we’re playing right now,” Blues coach Mike Yeo said. “We can try to analyze and figure out what the reasons are. Maybe we just think that we’re good.”Tarasenko’s second goal initially was not called a goal on the ice Chicago Blackhawks Hats Authentic , but off-ice officials signaled to the referees to stop play for a video review 27 seconds after the puck entered the net.Marcus Kruger put the Blackhawks ahead 3-2 at 10:25 of the second period off a pass from Patrick Kane after St. Louis failed to clear the puck out of its own zone on multiple occasions.Toews’ first goal cut Chicago’s deficit to 2-1 just 68 seconds after Tarasenko scored his first goal of the season to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.Kane tied it 2-all with his second of the season, but he was most impressed by Toews’ effort.“Johnny’s been unbelievable the first two games as far as leading the way and leading the charge,” Kane said. “You couldn’t really ask much more from the captain, so pretty impressive start for him”Colton Parayko scored his first goal on a power play 14:42 into the first period to give St. Louis its first lead of the season.St. Louis center Ryan O’Reilly finished with three assists.EXTRA TIMEChicago became the third team in NHL history to open a season with consecutive overtime wins.NOTES: Blues LW Alexander Steen skated in his 900th NHL game. … D Jakub Jerabek arrived in St. Louis after receiving his work visa. … Chicago has won 44 consecutive games when Toews and Kane each score a goal. … Kane’s first assist gave him the fifth-most in Blackhawks history. He had been tied with Steve Larmer at 517.UP NEXTBlackhawks: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night in their home opener.Blues: Host the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.
