Matt Murray just can’t seem to stay healthy this season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender is out with another injury, as Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe says he’s considered day-to-day with a head injury and “other stuff."
While the language of day-to-day implies it won’t be anything long-term, it’s unclear if he’ll be back before the start of the playoffs with so little time left in the season. The fact that it’s a head injury means they might be a bit more cautious about the injury, but they also will probably want to get him into at least one more game before their playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Murray suffered the injury late in the first period of Sunday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings when Wings forward Lucas Raymond lost an edge and slid into Murray, which upended the unsuspecting goaltender and caused him to fall backward, with his upper body taking the biggest impact.
He left the game after that, having allowed two goals on just seven shots in 16:16 of ice time and the Leafs trailing 2-1, with Ilya Samsonov replacing him and allowing two more goals on 16 shots to give the Leafs a 5-2 loss.
Murray’s had another injury-plagued season, with a 14-8-2 record, .903% save percentage, a shut out, and -1.3 goals saved above expected in the 26 games he has played, which has led him to become the backup goalie in Toronto to Samsonov.
With the injury to Murray, the Leafs have called up Joseph Woll to take up the backup role again. He’s had a couple of stints with the Leafs already this season, with a 3-1-0 record, a .934% save percentage, and 3.74 goals saved above expected in four games. He’s been one of the best goalies in the AHL this season when he’s been healthy and not in the NHL, with a 16-4-1 record and a .927% save percentage in 21 games for the Toronto Marlies.
The Leafs also mentioned that trade deadline addition Ryan O’Reilly is close to returning, but won’t be back for Tuesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
They’re in no rush to bring him back outside of getting him acclimated to the lineup again, as they’ve already locked up a playoff spot and their opponent for the playoffs this season. The only thing up in the air is home-ice advantage in the series, which they currently have a four-point lead on with their 45-21-10 record, with a game in hand on the Lightning.
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