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Murray Stays In The Playoff Mix With Standout Performance Against Sens

March 20, 2023, 4:51 PM ET [178 Comments]
Mike Augello
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In the category of how statistics can be misleading, the Sportsnet Stats Twitter feed sent out after the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday the completely accurate fact that goalie Matt Murray had surrendered four goals in his sixth straight game, but what they forgot to mention was that Murray faced a career-high 52 shots on goal in the win over his former club and was one of the main reasons that the Leafs came out with two points.



The Leafs held a 4-2 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the third, on goals from Jake McCabe, Mitch Marner, and a pair from Calle Jarnkrok, but they could not hold the advantage, giving up a goal to Brady Tkachuk just 63 seconds after Jarnkrok’s second goal (as they tend to do quickly after) and after Alex DeBrincat’s tying marker was negated after video review confirmed Ottawa was offsides, Tkachuk scored again with 11 seconds left on a power play to tie the game.



Murray kept Ottawa from an OT victory, stopping Tim Stutzle on a breakaway and was sharp in the shootout, making six saves on nine Sens opportunities before Alex Kerfoot’s game-winner in round nine.



“I am sure it is going to do a lot for his confidence. He was busy. We had been talking about how he hasn’t been busy enough in terms of the workload. Even in the games he has played of late, I think he has done a good job.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “He must have been nice to someone because he got about 10 bonus saves out of this one tonight. No question, they threw a lot at him. There was a lot of traffic at the same time. He handled it very well.”

The victory kept Toronto three points ahead of Tampa in the race for home-ice advantage in the first round, and that could be a factor in which goaltender gets the nod to start the series against the Lightning. Ilya Samsonov’s performance this season has been excellent, but especially exemplary on home ice with an 18-2-2 record, 1.95 GAA, and .929 save %, but his record on the road is mediocre (6-6-1, 3.01 GAA, .900 save %) compared to Murray’s (8-5-1, 2.71, .917 save %), which may lend itself to both goalies being used in a seven-game series.

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After not backing up Murray in Ottawa dealing with a nagging injury, Samsonov was at practice at Ford Performance Centre in Etobicoke, ON on Monday. Noel Acciari, who left the win over Carolina in the first period after colliding with Canes forward Jesse Puljujarvi, was a full participant as well, which is an encouraging sign for his return to the lineup this week as the Leafs continue their five-game road trip against the Islanders in New York.

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