Devin Cooley Responds to Sergei Murashov’s Stick Tap

Saturday, Pittsburgh Penguins rookie goalie Sergei Murashov gave a public stick tap to Calgary Flames goalie Devin Cooley for his willingness to speak out about the mental health struggles of being a goalie.

Following Murashov’s first win of the season, a 5-2 win over the LA Kings, Murashov used the media to send his thanks to Cooley.

“I want to pass a media message to Devin Cooley. I saw he was really popular recently, and like most of the goalies are going through something like he’s talking about, but not a lot actually speak aloud,” Murashov said. “So, just thank you to him for what he’s saying, and it helps. It genuinely just helped me a little bit too.”

Murashov, 22, stopped 18 of 20 shots against LA, a far cry from the bombardment he’s faced in recent games against better opponents who shredded the Penguins’ zone coverage and capitalized on egregious mistakes.

Murashov was visibly relieved to get his first win this season and just the second of his 11-game NHL career.

Monday, Cooley responded, “I did not see it, but I heard about it from multiple people telling me,” Cooley said. “I heard it was awesome, and I’ve gotten messages from other guys in the league, too, who have reached out. I’m like, ‘that’s really cool.’

“I’m glad I can do something instead of just play a sport … because that doesn’t really make a huge impact on humanity.”

His self-effacing comment was followed by a good laugh.

“I’m glad I can do something instead of just play a sport, because that doesn’t really make a huge impact on humanity” 😁

Never change Devin!

(via: @NHLFlames, @SNPittsburgh) pic.twitter.com/Bt1RGRNkHk

— BarDown (@BarDown) November 9, 2026

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