Matt Murray reflects on record-setting rookie AHL season

Matt Murray entered his first professional hockey season expecting a long winter riding the pine.

The Thunder Bay goaltender, a third-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, figured at best he’d be a back-up with the NHL club’s American Hockey League farm team in Wikes-Barre/Scranton, Pa. 

But when the opportunity to find regular playing time arose, thanks to an injury to Baby Pens starter Jeff Zatkoff, Murray took it and ran.
The results were record-setting for the now 21-year-old.

All Murray managed to do was string together a 25-10-3 record, setting a new AHL rookie standard with a remarkable 12 shutouts while posting a stingy 1.58 goals against average.

Along the way he also set a new league record with a 304-minute, 11-second shutout string, topping a mark set three years earlier by Abbotsford’s Barry Brust.

Did we mention he’s just 21?

The early success was as surprising to Murray as it was to the rest of the hockey world.

“I was pretty apprehensive, actually, coming into the season. I didn’t really know what to expect. But everything kind of fell into place nicely. I kind of got better as the season went along. I struggled early for a bit,” Murray said Wednesday.

He quickly found his game once thrust into the spotlight. His first shutout – and first professional win – came on Oct. 24, 2014 against Springfield.

He never really looked back.

The 83rd pick in the 2012 NHL draft and a graduate of both the Thunder Bay Kings and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Murray credited former coach John Hynes – since named bench boss of the New Jersey Devils – with helping him make the adjustment to life in the professional ranks.

“He coached a really defensive style, so obviously that really helps a goalie a lot,” Murray said. “We had probably one of the best D-corps in the league, so that probably helped as well. I think everything came together at the right time.”

The accolades poured in at season’s end. Murray was named the AHL’s top goaltender and rookie of the year, though like any player, he said they’re not all that important in the scheme of things.

“I’m really in the moment as the season is going on, especially in the playoffs. I try not to really think about anything. The season kind of passed and I kind of didn’t really acknowledge it, to be honest,” Murray said.

“The first time I really had time to reflect was when I got home here and realized the season was over. I looked back and I can be proud of what I accomplished this year. At the same time, awards are great, but that’s not why you play the game. You play the game to win and to get better and obviously we could have done a little bit better in the playoffs. So that’s kind of a little bit more on my mind than anything else.”

Though summer hasn’t yet officially arrived in Ontario’s northwest, Murray is starting to look ahead to next season.

He’s got rookie camp slated for July, a chance to further impress the Penguins brass. The parent club does appear to have an opening behind starter Marc-Andre Fleury in goal, but Murray said he’s being realistic about his immediate future, despite his first-year success.

“They haven’t really told me a thing about what they expect going forward. But I’ve been around hockey long enough to know that definitely won’t want a 21-year-old kid as a back-up not playing at all up in Pittsburgh,” Murray said.

“That would be my gut feeling. It’s unfortunate, because obviously I’d love to be in Pittsburgh. That’s my goal and that’s where I want to be. But at the same time, you don’t want to be sitting on the bench not playing, especially as a young player.”