Matt Murray will start Saturday for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Terry Koshan of The Toronto Sun reports.
Holl sits tonight with Schenn making his return. Samsonov in goal, Murray tomorrow night in Ottawa #Leafs
— Terry Koshan ?? (@koshtorontosun) March 17, 2023
The Leafs did everyone a favor early Friday when they announced that Ilya Samsonov would start Friday versus the Carolina Hurricanes and Murray on Saturday versus the Ottawa Senators. Murray has struggled in his return from an ankle injury on March 4. He missed 17 games due to the injury. In three games since his return, he is 1-2, has allowed four goals in each game, and has a save percentage of .847. That’s not going to get the job done.
The Leafs will tell you that Murray and Samsonov are battling for the right to start in the playoffs. The truth is it will be Samsonov unless he suffers an injury. The other truth is that Samsonov starting will likely only last as long as he plays well. This will probably be a situation where the hot goaltender gets the job.
The Leafs are +160 (-1.5) on the puck line and -144 on the moneyline versus the Senators on Saturday, with an over/under of 6.5, over (-128), and under (+104). You can find the lines and props for this game and all others on the FanDuel Sportsbook.
