After an eye-opening training camp, a top Pittsburgh Penguins' goaltending prospect is enjoying a hot start to his AHL season.
21-year-old netminder Sergei Murashov - selected in the fourth round (118th overall) by the Penguins in 2022 - seems to be carrying over his dominance from the pre-season and from last season. After a 5-2 win by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins over Hartford on Friday, Murashov is 2-0 with a .944 save percentage and a 1.50 goals-against average so far on the young season.
The promising goaltender continues to turn heads after an NHL pre-season in which he was - across the board - the Penguins' best goaltender. He went 2-0-1 and owned a .935 save percentage and 1.71 goals-against average in three appearances, which led all Penguins' goaltenders with multiple appearances in pre-season play.
And dominance is a trend that has followed Murashov throughout his professional career. He broke WBS's rookie record for consecutive wins last season with 11, and he had a .922 save percentage across 26 appearances in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers last season as well. In addition, he never posted a save percentage below .925 in the KHL prior to arriving in North America last season.
As is the case with every other player in the Penguins' organization, it's very early in the season. However, Murashov appears as though he has not skipped a beat this season, and if he continues his high level of play in the AHL, Pittsburgh may very well see him sometime this season - especially with the goaltending battle at the NHL level wide open this season.
Should Silovs Be The Penguins' Starting Goaltender?Heading into the 2025-26 season, <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/">Pittsburgh Penguins</a>' head coach said Dan Muse that he didn't have a concrete plan for the goaltending split between Tristan Jarry and Arturs Silovs.
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