Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Matt Murray will be sidelined through the NHL All-Star break with an ankle injury, coach Sheldon Keefe said Sunday.
Murray’s injury isn’t of the long-term variety, according to Keefe. But the 28-year-old was scratched from his scheduled start prior to Friday’s 6-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Murray reportedly injured the ankle during warmups, necessitating the late change to Ilya Samsonov.
“There’s something there that’s going to require some time for sure,” Keefe said of Murray’s injury. “The length of time we won’t quite know really until we come back from the break. We’ll have a better idea of exactly where that’s at.”
Toronto resumes play after the break on Feb. 10 against the host Columbus Blue Jackets. The Maple Leafs host the Boston Bruins on Wednesday in their last game before the time off.
Murray hasn’t played in the Maple Leafs’ last six games with Samsonov being the netminder in each, including Sunday’s 5-1 victory over the visiting Washington Capitals.
Murray was pulled from his last start — a 5-4 overtime win over the Florida Panthers on Jan. 17 — early in the second period.
Murray, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins, is 11-5-2 with a 2.73 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in 19 games (all starts) this season. He is in his first season with Toronto after playing for Pittsburgh (2015-20) for five seasons and the Ottawa Senators (2020-22) for two campaigns.
Samsonov, 25, is 17-5-2 with a 2.31 GAA and .917 save percentage in 24 games (23 starts) this season, also his first with the Maple Leafs after three seasons with the Capitals.
Toronto also formally placed star forward Auston Matthews (knee) on injured reserve and activated defenseman TJ Brodie (rib) off the same list.
–Field Level Media
