Auston Matthews continues to deal with a lingering upper-body injury. Would it be best for the team and player to rest in February during the 4 Nations Face-Off? It was a difficult Saturday night for Matt Murray in the Toronto Maple Leafs' net. The 30-year-old allowed four goals on 31 shots against the Washington Capitals in his second NHL game since Apr. 2, 2023. After John Tavares opened the scoring in the game for Toronto, Washington's Andrew Mangiapane tied the game less than two minutes later. It's a goal that Murray would probably like to have back. Jakob Chychrun found the back of the net just over four minutes later. The defenseman beat Murray over the glove to give them a 2-1 lead. It's arguably another goal that the veteran goaltender would like to have saved. Murray allowed two more goals in the game and now has an .879 save percentage in two games with the Maple Leafs this season. He's allowed three or more goals in both starts (his first was a win against the Buffalo Sabres), which have come eight days apart. "A lot of good things. But really, the real dagger for us is that fourth one. We were doing so well. Had a chance to come back and tie the game and I'm not even sure how it went in," Murray said. "Deflected off of something. I think I lost it at the last second. So like I said, a lot of good things, but just not enough to get the win." Murray is referring to Chychrun's point shot, which Tom Wilson tipped in front of. As the goaltender said, it essentially ended the game for Toronto, who was down 4-2 with less than eight minutes left. "I'm sure he wants a couple back. But he hasn't played a ton of hockey," said Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube post-game. "I mean, he battled, he fought. But yeah, that's about it." Murray has found it difficult to find his groove at the NHL level. He hasn't been in the league for nearly two years, and sometimes, it takes some time to find his footing again. However, he was strong with the Toronto Marlies to start the season, winning four of his eight games and posting a .931 save percentage. The NHL is a faster game, and Murray has to get used to it fairly quickly, especially with another back-to-back approaching in the schedule. "I think I definitely had a long time off, so there's maybe just like one or two times a game where I just feel like I'm just a little bit late, maybe picking up pucks through traffic, that type of thing," the goaltender said on Saturday. "That happened a couple of times out there tonight, but it's really once or twice a game, so I just got to clean that up." Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjExNjM5NDEwNTc4NDM0MDI0/googlenews.svg] Stay updated with the most interesting Maple Leafs stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwytvfCA?ceid=CA:en&oc=3] to never miss a story.
