Since returning from injury Tuesday night, Matt Murray has been exceptional for the Leafs. With a 2-0-1 record and a combined save percentage of .935 over his three games this week and 2-1-1 overall this season. He is a big reason why the Leafs were able to win two of three and take the Devils to overtime. The Leafs' head coach took notice of Murray's play tonight, offering some high praise following the decisive win.
"I thought our goaltending was elite tonight. With the way we defended and Matt Murray played in goal, we were a tough team to beat tonight," said Keefe post game. Murray certainly stood on his head at points for the Leafs on Saturday, specifically in the third period when the Buds seemingly took a few shifts off and couldn't get the puck out of their zone.
Aside from those few shifts, the Leafs actually played well defensively against one of the lesser teams in the league and, as we know, playing better than a bottom feeder is often a tough ask for the Leafs. Keefe calling Murray's performance elite is something we haven't heard a coach say too often about goaltending in Toronto over the past decade or so, but this is back-to-back games where Keefe has praised Murray as he said that Murray was the only reason the Leafs got a point the other night against the Devils.
So far, so good since returning from injury and it appears that Murray will be getting most of the playing time over Erik Kallgren until Ilya Samsonov returns. The Leafs have 4 games in 6 nights this week, so expect there to be a break one night for Murray, likely the back-to-back on the weekend.
