Sheldon Keefe makes surprising decision on his starting goaltender for Saturday's game against the Sabres
The Leafs have had a bit of an up-and-down season to start and Thursday's loss to the New Jersey Devils isn't going to do anything for them confidence-wise. For goaltender Matt Murray, he has looked good in 2 of his 3 starts this season, despite a 1-1-1 record.
Murray's .903 SV% and 3.01 GAA this season may not look great on paper, but he did post a .909 SV% against the Devils on Thursday and a .946 SV% against the Penguins on Tuesday in what might be the two best games we've seen from him in recent history - possibly dating back to his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Well, it appears as though Sheldon Keefe sees it that way as well. Despite the fact that Murray has some durability concerns and has already started 2 games in a 3-day span, Keefe plans to send Murray right back out there against the Sabres on Saturday, as confirmed following Friday's practice.
With Ilya Samsonov still rehabbing a knee injury suffered against the Bruins 2 weeks ago, the choice came down to Murray or Erik Kallgren. Despite a few pretty solid starts, Kallgren has largely been very pedestrian for the Leafs in his 8 appearances this season. Kallgren currently owns a 2-2-3 record to go along with a 2.86 GAA and a .893 SV%. It is worth noting that the Leafs have not exactly provided Kallgren with any real goal support in his 8 appearances and hung him out to dry defensively in half of his games, but it would appear as though the coaching staff likes Murray, even with the durability concerns and a lack of rest this week.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 18 | 320 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe makes surprising decision on his starting goaltender for Saturday's game against the Sabres Are the Leafs making a mistake by not managing Matt Murray's workload this week? | ||
| Yes - it's risky to run him every game | 74 | 23.1 % |
| No - he needs to play to build confidence | 190 | 59.4 % |
| I'm okay with either decision | 56 | 17.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
