Long-tenured reporter touches on recent goaltending controversy in Toronto
With the playoffs fast approaching, the number one question on every Leafs fan's mind appears to be; "If the playoffs started tomorrow, who will the starting goaltender for be for Game 1 against the Lightning?" Both Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov had provided the Leafs with some quality goaltending, but both have also experienced some rough patches, so maybe it's not a question of who will start, but who should start?
During an appearance on The JD Bunkis Podcast this week, Kevin Woodley, a very seasoned sports writer who has had his work featured on NHL dot com, AP, USA Today and The Hockey News, shared some of his insight on the subject of who should start for the Leafs in the playoffs. Woodley basically views it as a case of who the Leafs value more in the series - the guy who makes more low danger saves or the guy who makes more high danger saves.
-Kevin Woodley on who the Leafs should roll with in the Leafs/Lightning series
It's definitely an interesting way to look at things. I have a feeling, though, that regardless of who makes more of the high danger saves or who makes more of the routine stops, Murray is likely to be the starter, simply because of his playoff pedigree. If we're going purely based off of their play, Samsonov has probably earned the start for Game 1, but I don't suspect we'll see that happen. Barring a horrendous run to close out the season, I'd put my money on Murray being the starter for Game 1 against Tampa.
