Leafs confirm starter for tonight's game against Wild, have a surprise participant in optional skate
It should come as no surprise, but Ilya Samsonov was the first goalie off the ice at this morning's optional game-day skate. That means he is the projected starter for tonight against the Minnesota Wild. Samsonov is coming off of a win in his last start against Buffalo and is 20-7-2 in 29 games this season with a .915 save percentage and 2.40 GAA.
Along with Samsonov being the first goalie off the ice this morning, Matt Murray also made his first appearance in a group setting at the optional skate. It was Murray's first time taking part in a practice with teammates since suffering an ankle injury in January.
It's the second time Murray has missed at least a month with an injury this season after he missed a month earlier with an adductor injury. Ironically, both injuries occurred as he was preparing to start against his former team, the Ottawa Senators. Murray being on the ice at an optional practice is good news for the Leafs after Kyle Dubas said he would be back shortly just last week.
Murray is expected to join the Leafs on their upcoming Western Conference road trip, which the Leafs will not complete until after next Friday's trade deadline has come and gone. If I had to guess, I'd suggest that the Leafs will likely want to take care some of the off-ice trade deadline business before departing for the road trip, which begins on Sunday in Seattle - so we could be in for an exciting weekend.
