Projected starters finally announced for the Leafs ahead of back-to-back against Carolina and Ottawa this weekend
Following Thursday's practice, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe kept his cards close to the vest, opting not to share his plans for assigning his starting goaltenders for this weekend's back-to-back against Carolina and Ottawa. Keefe did reveal that he plans to use both goaltenders, but wouldn't respond to questions on who might start which game.
Well, less than 24 hours later, we now have a pretty good idea as to how the split will go. With Ilya Samsonov taking part in his normal game day routine when he's expected to start, he looks to be in line for his second consecutive start on Friday, while Matt Murray will draw the start against his old team, the Ottawa Senators, for the Battle of Ontario on Saturday.
Samsonov was stellar on Wednesday against Colorado, stopping 28 of the 29 shots he faced in the game, but couldn't quite clutch the win in the shootout, due to the fact that his forwards didn't sneak any pucks past Alexandar Georgiev in their 3 attempts. Samsonov allowed just one, to Nathan MacKinnon, on a shot that MacKinnon partially fanned on and nearly missed, which confused Samsonov and fluttered through his 5-hole. Samsonov posted a .966 SV% and a 0.94 GAA in the shootout loss to the Avs.
If Murray does indeed get the start on Saturday, as projected, it will be his first start against his former Sens this year. Murray was in line to start two games against the Sens this season, but had suffered a pair of injuries (adductor and ankle, respectively), which prevented him from suiting up against Ottawa. Murray has allowed at least 4 goals against in each of his last 5 starts.
