PITTSBURGH — Matt Murray jokes he can’t help but do a double take whenever he sees a No. 30 Pittsburgh Penguins jersey in public.

“I still think it’s a family member or something,” the Penguins goaltender said with a laugh.

Hard to blame him. Two years ago, Murray was still in the minors, a 21-year-old long on promise but whose time as the heir apparent to Marc-Andre Fleury was still off somewhere in the gauzy distance.

Like seemingly everything else in Murray’s burgeoning career, the future arrived ahead of schedule. Funny how winning a pair of Stanley Cup championships speeds things up.

When Murray skates onto the PPG Arena ice on Wednesday night for the season opener against St. Louis, he’ll do it for the first time as a true No. 1 NHL goalie. No more of the “Murray vs. Fleury” debates that raged across social media and talk radio — but never in the Penguins dressing room — during their professional if occasionally uncomfortable coexistence.

The gig is Murray’s. For now and for later.

Even with his name stenciled on his sport’s most prized possession — twice — he’s in no mood for a victory lap.

“I think there’s always something to prove,” Murray said. “Nothing’s given to you in this league that’s for sure. You’ve got to keep your foot on the gas pedal and that’s what I intend to do. I don’t feel like I’ve earned anything.”

On that point, he might be wrong. The Penguins didn’t deal the franchise’s all-time winningest goaltender to Las Vegas as a favor to get Fleury more playing time. Murray’s play during the 2016 and 2017 playoffs (when he went a combined 22-9 with a 1.95 goals-against average) erased what little doubt remained in general manager Jim Rutherford’s mind about Murray’s dependability. Fleury was a luxury the team no longer needed to afford.

It also set the bar almost impossibly high. Anything less than a championship will be a comedown on some level.

“My goal isn’t to win the Cup,” he said. “My goal is to get better today, better tomorrow, better the day after that. That’s helped.”

While Murray points to his astounding success as a byproduct of playing on a team loaded with talent, the rest of the Penguins see it a little bit differently.

“He’s very much one of the huge reasons we won two Stanley Cups,” defensemen Ian Cole said. “He’s part of the core now that leads us to be successful night in and night out.”