Matt Murray absent from practice; is he nursing another minor injury or are the Leafs simply load-managing him?
Since returning from injury, Matt Murray is 5-0-1 with a ridiculous .935 save percentage and has now won four in a row. Murray has often participated in the first 10 minutes of practice before departing since his return as part of his load management routine. It's something the Leafs had done the past few seasons with Jack Campbell and will likely continue to do as they want to do as much as they can to prevent any recurring injury or future injury for Murray and quite possibly Ilya Samsonov.
Today however, Murray did not participate in the first 10 minutes of practice as he normally does. However, he was on the ice prior to practice beginning working with Leafs goalie coach Curtis Sanford. This has, of course, sent Leafs Nation into a bit of a frenzy, wondering whether Murray is dealing with something minor or if it's just load management.
It makes sense for the Leafs to give Murray the day off as he has played 6 games in the past 12 days and the Buds have a tough stretch coming up in their schedule. They play Tampa, Dallas, Calgary and the Rangers over the next two weeks, so they will rely on Murray heavily during that stretch if Samsonov is unable to return. In that sense, it's reasonable to assume that today's absence was for load management reasons.
We'll continue to monitor Murray's presence at practice throughout the week and provide updates if and when they become available.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 29 | 233 ANSWERS Matt Murray absent from practice; is he nursing another minor injury or are the Leafs simply load-managing him? Did Murray suffer another minor injury or are the Leafs just focusing on load management? | ||
| Injury | 26 | 11.2 % |
| Load Management | 207 | 88.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
