Matt Murray Departs Leafs' Practice Early After Apparent Injury
Per David Alter of Sports Illustrated, Matt Murray was seen limping off the ice at the Maple Leafs' practice this morning, clearly laboring one of his legs. Murray consulted Toronto's goalie coach, Curtis Sanford and, after the two chatted a bit, headed departed practice immediately. Whether or not the decision was simply precautionary remains to be seen.
This is a tough break for Toronto that literally nobody could have foreseen.
Murray has appeared in one game for Toronto, dropping a 4-3 contest to the Montréal Canadiens in which he stopped 19 of 23. With an 0-1 record to start his Maple Leafs' career, an injury was the last thing Murray needs as he is running out of chances in the NHL.
This news offers quite the predicament for Kyle Dubas. As pointed out by Mike Stephens of SI, Toronto currently holds the maximum number of contracts with 50. The only additional goalies under contract are Erik Källgren, who was hurt last night in the AHL, and Denis Hildeby, who is in Sweden. The other two goalies the Leafs could recall already have professional games played, so they cannot sign an amateur tryout.
Ipso facto, the Leafs' starting goaltender tonight is questionable until they sort it out. Yikes.
Luckily, Ilya Samsonov showed competency in his only start of the season, so the Leafs are not totally screwed. However, riding Samsonov as the #1 for the Leafs carries a ton of risk.
Hopefully, this is nothing serious for Murray, although he did appear to be in some discomfort.
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