Leafs' Murray suffers injury prior to Friday's game vs. Senators
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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Matt Murray suffered an injury and was not able to play in Friday's game against the Ottawa Senators, head coach Sheldon Keefe announced after the game.
Keefe described the injury as a flare up of something Murray had previously been dealing with and though he remained on the bench for the duration of the game, he was not available to play.
Keefe also said that the injury is not related to the adductor injury that kept Murray out of action earlier in the season.
Leafs forward William Nylander caught Murray up high with a shot during warmups, but does not believe that was the source of the injury either.
"He said he was fine after that," Nylander said after the game. "It was nothing with that shot."
The 28-year-old was expected to see his first action since January 17, when he was pulled after allowing four goals on eight shots against the Florida Panthers.
Ilya Samsonov made his fifth consecutive start on Friday for the Leafs and surrendered six goals on 34 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Senators.
If Samsonov had been injured in the contest, an emergency backup goaltender (EBUG) would have been required for the Leafs.
Murray was the first goalie off the ice at the Leafs’ morning skate on Friday and led the team onto the ice at Scotiabank Arena for warmups prior to the game.
Following the morning skate, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe commented on using Murray and how to deal with Samsonov’s increasing workload.
“This is the game for Murray to get back in, obviously we’ve been very comfortable with how Sammy has been playing and because of that it hasn’t given Matt as much of an opportunity, but he’s back in there tonight and I’m looking forward to having him there,” Keefe said following Friday’s practice.
Murray has appeared in 19 games this season for the Leafs and has an 11-5-2 record with a 2.73 goals-against average.