Two-time Stanley Cup champion and former Penguin Matt Murray got the call from Toronto's AHL affiliate head of Friday's game against the Buffalo Sabres
A grueling hip injury and over a year and a half later, a former Pittsburgh Penguin and two-time Stanley Cup champion is set to make his return to NHL action.
Goaltender Matt Murray - who led the charge in back-to-back Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017 - was recalled from the AHL by the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of their Friday tilt against the Buffalo Sabres.
As reported by THN's David Alter and confirmed by Leafs head coach Craig Berube, Murray will start against the Sabres on Friday:
Murray was traded by the Ottawa Senators to the Leafs during the summer of 2022, and injuries during the 2022-23 season held him to only 26 games in 2022-23. In that first season with the Leafs, he went 14-8-2 and posted a .903 save percentage.
He then had bilateral hip surgery in the offseason of 2023 that kept him out of NHL action the entire 2023-24 season. He did see some time with the Marlies at the end of the AHL season, but he has not started an NHL game since Apr. 2, 2023. He signed a one-year deal with the Leafs this past offseason.
And interestingly enough? His last start in the AHL came against none other than the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday, which was a 27-save shutout and a 3-0 win for Murray and the Marlies.
