After 628 days, Matt Murray found out on Friday morning that he would be making his return to an NHL crease.
With Anthony Stolarz out 4-6 weeks after undergoing knee surgery and the Leafs being cautious about overworking Joseph Woll, the 30-year-old backstopped the Leafs to a 6-3 victory with a little help from the coaching staff.
The Sabres appeared to have pulled within a goal with 3:26 to go in the third period when Owen Power beat Murray on the blocker side. Unfortunately for Buffalo, the Leafs have two of the best video coaches in the NHL in with Sam Kim and Jordan Bean.
As they did a dozen successful times last season, they told head coach Craig Berube to challenge for goaltender interference. Former Leaf Sam Lafferty got a little too close to Murray and bumped his stick, compromising Murray's ability to make the save on Power's shot, which the officials deemed to be interference and the goal was disallowed.
it was the second disallowed goal the Sabres had on Friday night as they had one called back in the first period when the linesman informed the referee of a high-stick after what was believed to be the game-tying goal.
Thanks to a little help from the Leafs' third line and the video coaches, Murray was able to secure his first NHL win since March 23, 2023, in what was a very special moment for him.
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