An insane Ilya Samsonov stat has Leafs Nation scratching their heads at Keefe's rationale for starting Murray last night
During Tuesday's morning skate, it became apparent that the Leafs would likely turn to Matt Murray for Tuesday night's start against the Florida Panthers. Shortly thereafter, Keefe did indeed name Murray the starter, citing his primary reason as Murray not having received many home starts this season.
The move seemed to make some sense at the time. The team had largely split the starts between Murray and his tandem partner, Ilya Samsonov, right down the middle, but had given Murray the lion's share of the road starts and had turned to Samsonov as their primary home starter. It's only fair that Murray gets to start a few games in front of the hometown fans, after all.
Well, as fate would have it, the decision to start Murray nearly proved costly after the veteran netminder allowed 4 goals on just 8 shots to start the game. Thankfully, Samsonov, who came into the game early in the second period in relief of Murray, looked sensational, stopping all 11 shots he faced from there on out, securing the 5-4 OT victory for the Leafs.
This improves Samsonov's home record this season to 11-0-1. That's right - Samsonov has yet to lose a home game in regulation.
I don't know what it is about starting at home, but something about starting in Toronto just jives with Samsonov. I hate to say it, but as much as it isn't overly fair to Matt Murray, the Leafs should probably just roll with Samsonov as the home starter until his mojo runs out. An 11-0-1 home record is absolutely absurd and I think the Leafs being 16-3-4 at home has a lot to do with Samsonov's incredible point streak.
For context, the Leafs are 11-8-3 on the road this season.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 18 | 43 ANSWERS An insane Ilya Samsonov stat has Leafs Nation scratching their heads at Keefe's rationale for starting Murray last night Should the Leafs start Samsonov in every home game until he begins to cool off? | ||
| Yes | 29 | 67.4 % |
| No | 4 | 9.3 % |
| Alternating starts is still the right call | 10 | 23.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
