It got a bit messy at the end, but the Maple Leafs have now won five of their past six, including two straight on the road for the first time this year, while Matt Murray proved he still has a place in Toronto’s big goaltending stable.
Our takeaways in a highly eventful 6-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres:
MURRAY TAKES A BOW
The margin of victory didn’t matter as much as his mates seeing Murray finally back in an NHL milieu. For months, they glimpsed him only at the practice rink or the gym in a long and painful rehab from bilateral hip surgery.
“The last year, or year and a half, you see him every day, working out,” Auston Matthews told the media post-game in Buffalo. “It has been a long journey for him and he’s an incredible person. Awesome to see him get this win tonight, knowing what he’s gone through and how hard he’s worked to get back.”
Head coach Craig Berube said the 30-year-old netminder was “dialled-in” once he knew he was getting called up from the Marlies for the start,
Murray’s 24 saves were complicated by a couple of long-range Sabres goals, and though a high stick only a linesman saw and a less-than-obvious goalie interference call negated two other Buffalo strikes, both were the correct rulings.
“One of the best pieces of advice I got today was to take a moment to enjoy it,” Murray told Sportsnet afterwards. “In warmups, I tried to take it all in, during the anthems, as well. It’s an amazing feeling.
“A lot of hard work went into it, not just by me, but the people around me. If I (had doubts), the people around me kept me in check. That’s the only reason I’m here.”
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THREE TO GET READY
Rarely have three Leafs come out of scoring slumps the way third-liners Max Domi, Nick Robertson and Bobby McMann have.
The past three games have seen the unit pile up 16 points, all three scoring Friday night, just as they did in Dallas on Wednesday. Domi had gone 22 games, plus time away from an injury, still looking for his first of the season. Robertson had been scratched for four recent games, while McMann was hurt and benched at times. Now they’re all making up for the team’s lack of secondary scoring and contributing to an offence that has produced five or more goals in each of the past three games.
“All three complement each other extremely well,” Matthews said. “Bobby’s a workhorse, Robbie can obviously shoot it and Max is a great distributor.”
And they love to grind, too, Robertson and Domi showing that, for smaller Leafs, they can play Berube’s style down low, while McMann gives the left side another physical winger behind Matthew Knies and Max Pacioretty.
On the down side, the line — or some version of it — was on the ice for all three Buffalo goals.
TARGETING TONY
When Matthews missed the morning skate for what Berube called maintenance purposes and the coach mentioned the captain is still playing through something related to his mystery upper body ailment, the Sabres took notice.
He was in the sights of a couple of Buffalo skaters, with big Tage Thompson getting in a hard shoulder check that brought teammate Morgan Rielly into a scrum in Matthews’ defence. Matthews was later knocked to the ice with a crosscheck to the ribs in the Buffalo crease that brought other Leafs to his aid.
“That’s not Mo’s job by any means,” Domi said in praise of Rielly taking on a bigger foe. “But it sends a message that we’re a strong group that sticks together and if you want to go after our best player like that, it doesn’t matter. Whoever is on the ice, we’re going to jump in.”
Matthews was unfettered long enough to score, lead Toronto with five shots on goal and play just less than 20 minutes, with Berube no doubt trying to make sure he and linemates Mitch Marner and Knies have gas in the tank for Saturday’s game at home against the Islanders.
WEAR AND TEAR ON D
Conor Timmins had six blocked shots, while league leader Chris Tanev had a huge one to prevent an early Buffalo goal and almost got a puck in the head when he stumbled into the line of fire. That was in addition to having a wad of cotton up his nostrils to stop heavy bleeding from Jason Zucker’s high stick that ultimately nullified a Sabres goal.
Another wound to the Leafs blueline was a pinballed puck that struck Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the groin and sent him to the dressing room to catch his breath. The defence did hand out some punishment too, Simon Benoit with five of Toronto’s 26 hits.
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