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The Toronto Maple Leafs exacted a bit of revenge after losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins last week, taking a big lead, surviving their traditional lull and putting forth a solid defensive effort in the final 20 minutes in a 5-2 victory at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.
Michael Bunting scored twice, John Tavares (scoring his 400th career goal), Mitch Marner and William Nylander scored for Toronto, but the story of the night was Matt Murray, who made 34 saves in his first start since opening night against the club that traded him in 2020.
After a fairly light load in the first, Murray faced an early onslaught in the second period, allowing goals from Rickard Rakell and Sidney Crosby before shutting the door on the Penguins for the last 37 minutes of regulation.
“There were times when we looked pretty vulnerable. They had some really good shooters with good shooting lanes. It didn’t look like Matt was able to see the puck, and he was able to find it, track it really well, and make a save.… Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “I thought he was just really solid and calm. Especially when our team played well in front of him, any time there was any sort of activity or action around the net, it didn’t look like it was coming close to going in.…
Matt Murray! pic.twitter.com/By5xob0yEQ
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) November 16, 2022
The Leafs defense overall played well in the contest, with Morgan Rielly getting a primary assist on Marner’s fourth goal of the season, and Jordie Benn making a great play to prevent Crosby from tying the game.
“It’s not often you can add a depth defenseman like that to come in when you have injuries, have him step right in, and bring life to your room and bench.… Keefe said of Benn. “He spent some time with the Marlies, but he hasn’t been around our group a lot. He steps right in, and he is comfortable and confident to play as much as you need him to. He has given us really good minutes. He was a very important add for us in the offseason.…
Rasmus Sandin had the lone glaring error of the game, fanning on a pass and giving away the puck to Crosby, who narrowed the Toronto lead to 3-2.
With the victory, the Leafs improve to 9-5-3 (good for second place in the Atlantic, two points ahead of Florida and Tampa Bay) and have gone 5-1-1 since their bad West Coast road swing.
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