Ahead of tomorrow's tilt against the Dallas Stars, the Leafs have announced that Murray will be between the pipes, while Ilya Samsonov will get the nod for Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Kings.
The Maple Leafs are 7-0-3 in their last 10 games, are coming off a hard-fought and somewhat controversial loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night in overtime. Murray will be getting the nod for the 3rd time in 4 games after allowing a soft OT goal to Tampa's Alex Killorn, but perhaps that's the best strategy. It will allow Murray to get right back in there and give him a chance to put forth another strong performance to erase the unfortunate end to Saturday's OT loss.
On the season, Murray is 5-1-2 with a 2.63 GAA and a .921 SV%, which he'll look to expand on when the Buds meet the Stars in Dallas on Tuesday. The Stars are 14-6-5 on the season and budding young superstar winger Jason Robertson leads the league in goals with 23 and is currently sitting 3rd in points with 41. At the other end of the ice, Jake Oettinger is 9-2-3 with a 2.51 GAA and a .917 SV%.
POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 5 | 202 ANSWERS Leafs announce starting goaltenders for games on Tuesday and Thursday Will both Murray and Samsonov win their starts this week? | ||
Yes | 160 | 79.2 % |
No | 9 | 4.5 % |
Samsonov yes, Murray no | 28 | 13.9 % |
Murray yes, Samsonov no | 5 | 2.5 % |
List of polls |