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First Posted: 2/10/2015
Dominik Uher doesn’t blame the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins coaching staff for making him a healthy scratch for two games last week.
He blames himself.
After going through January without recording a point and posting a minus-3 rating in 12 games, Uher knows it’s up to him to earn a spot in a suddenly crowded Penguins lineup.
That work, he said, begins with strong practices.
“I had a tough January and I think it was a good call by coach to take me out of the lineup,” Uher said. “Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I just re-focused and tried to improve in practice.”
The third-year pro has been a mainstay on the Penguins checking line for the last three seasons. He posted a career-high 24 points last year and hoped to build off that achievement.
Things were progressing nicely this season and Uher earned his first NHL call-up in December, appearing in two games with Pittsburgh.
But then he admittedly hit a wall in January and found himself out of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s lineup for a brief spell.
Head coach John Hynes said Uher needs to get back to the foundations of his game – physical play, puck possession, checking, to get back in the lineup on a regular basis.
“It’s a competitive situation right now for ice time with a lot of guys playing well,” Hynes said. “To be in the lineup you have to be a player that’s really going to make an impact and make it almost impossible for the coaches to take you out.”
After two games as a healthy scratch, Uher did get back in the lineup on Sunday against Bridgeport. It’s a situation he isn’t taking for granted.
“When I’m not playing well I can’t take a whole month to figure it out,” he said. “This is my third year and I’m better prepared now mentally. The only way to get out of it is to improve in practice and be a better player in games.”
NOTEBOOK
The American Hockey League named goaltender Matt Murray the CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Feb. 8.
Murray stopped 64 of 65 shots in two starts last week, posting a 2-0-0 record, a 0.50 goals-against average and a .985 save percentage.
“It’s not something I think about much when I’m on the ice, but it is a big honor to be named,” Murray said.
On Tuesday night, Murray made 28 saves for his fifth shutout of the season, backstopping Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a 4-0 win over Springfield. Then on Sunday, Murray took another shutout bid late into the third period before allowing a 5-on-3 power-play goal and settling for a 3-1 win at Bridgeport behind a 36-save effort.
A third-round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2012, Murray (13-8-2) leads the AHL with a 1.86 goals-against average, ranks fourth with a .929 save percentage and is tied for the league lead with five shutouts in 25 appearances for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season. The 20-year-old rookie from Thunder Bay, Ont., played four junior seasons at Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) before making his professional debut with Wilkes-Barre at the end of the 2013-14 campaign.