With injuries to Scott Wedgewood and hesitation around Jake Oettinger and his groin injury, the Dallas Stars recalled goaltender Matt Murray from the AHL’s Texas Stars on Tuesday.
During the Stars’ 3-1 game against the Chicago Blackhawks last Saturday, Wedgewood removed himself midway through the second period after appearing to hurt himself after a save earlier in the period.
Oettinger came into the game and made 20 of 21 saves, earning the win. It was only his second appearance since coming back after missing four weeks with a groin injury. Head coach Pete DeBoer said the last thing they wanted was to play Oettinger in a back-to-back scenario coming off the injury.
Through 14 games with the AHL’s Stars, Murray has an 8-5-1 record with a .908 SV% and a 2.80 GAA. Last season in the AHL, Murray was able to put together an 18-10-5 record with a .911 SV% and 2.37 GAA. In four NHL appearances across two seasons, Murray is 2-2-0 with an .885 SV% and 2.53 GAA.
The 25-year-old undrafted Murray spent five years at the UMass Amherst, posting a career 2.23 GAA and .916 SV%, helping the Minutement to three consecutive Hockey East championships between 2019-2022 (no tournament in 2020), as well as a national championship in 2021. He signed an amateur tryout contract with the AHL’s Stars after his final season at UMass.
The Stars have a 25-12-5 record with 55 points, third in the Western Conference’s Central Division. Their next game is Tuesday night as they host the Los Angeles Kings, then they travel to the east coast for a four-game road trip, starting with the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
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