Back-to-back games are gone until 2023 for the Maple Leafs, which opens Sheldon Keefe’s options in net.
If Matt Murray or Ilya Samsonov, both now fully healthy, have a strong outing, the coach can choose to come back with either on a day’s rest or settle into a rotation. Aided by the Christmas break, the Leafs won’t face consecutive games again until Jan. 7-8, home against Detroit and in Philadelphia.
“We want to have both guys involved, that’s the reality of the NHL,” Keefe said Friday. “Both have played so well and coming into this season we believed in their abilities and that we could get a lot of use out of both. However, it’s a day-to-day thing, based on the schedule.
“Matt’s really gotten on a roll, but didn’t play the other night (when Samsonov was strong against San Jose) so it’s important for us to get him back in tomorrow (at Tampa Bay).”
Murray and Samsonov rank eighth and ninth, respectively, among NHL save percentage leaders as of Friday.
SIMMONDS CHECKS BACK IN
Wayne Simmonds played just two games in November, but both were Toronto wins.
Now, with Calle Jarnkrok out two weeks with a groin injury, he’ll play Saturday against the Lightning on the fourth line with Zach Aston-Reese and centre Pontus Holmberg. Denis Malgin remains a scratch.
“We like to have Wayne involved, a guy who has played well against Tampa Bay, helped us on the road and who gives us experience,” Keefe said.
TJ Brodie is shaping up to be the first of the four injured defencemen to return and will practise during the Tampa-Dallas trip, but likely not play. At some point, the Leafs also have to get trade acquisition Conor Timmins into a game on the blue line as well.
BALLARD ON BIG SCREEN
Harold Ballard – remember him? – is the subject of a new documentary debuting at the Whistler Film Festival on Saturday, prior to its CBC premier on Jan. 22.
The “rise and fall’ of the controversial and sometimes crude former owner of the Leafs in the 1970s and ‘80s is covered in a film directed and narrated by Canadian actor Jason Priestley
Among those interviewed will be sports broadcasters, former team management, and ex-players Wendel Clark, Lanny McDonald, Darryl Sittler and Rick Vaive.
“Harold was many things, but he’s remembered as a powerful sports team owner who abused his privilege,” Priestley said in a release. “Viewers will be drawn to a story of the classic business scoundrel, a man who was a great promoter and never missed the chance to turn a profit. This film … pulls back the curtain revealing sides of him that no one really knew.”
BORJE BACKED THE CAPTAIN
Vaive gave a nice tribute to the late Borje Salming this week on the Squid and The Ultimate Leafs Fan podcast.
Vaive was made captain in 1981 after Sittler departed, a job Salming didn’t want when offered because of the media attention, though he regretted his missed chance to be first Swede to get an NHL ‘C’. The veteran still proved a strong lieutenant for the young Vaive.
“He sat right beside me in the dressing room and helped me out a lot,” Vaive told host Mike Wilson. “I was 22, we had a bit of an older team and he was always there to back me up if I said anything – not to mention what he did on the ice. He was a leader of that team.”
GRAND ACHIEVEMENTS
Current captain John Tavares is 26 points away from 1,000 in the NHL with Toronto and the New York Islanders, but Steven Stamkos of the Lightning got there ahead of him Thursday.
An assist during the Lightning win in Philadelphia was the magic number for their captain, the 95th skater in NHL history to reach 1,000 and one of only 10 active players.
Stamkos heads into Saturday’s game first in Lightning goals with 13 and adding 58 points in 45 regular-season games versus the Leafs.
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