Did you know that, after last night’s game, Matt Murray was 10th in the NHL among goaltenders for goals saved above average (GSAA) with a +5.11? And if you scroll down a bit, you’ll see that Ilya Samsonov with 8 games played is 19th in the league with a +3.31.? This is per Natural Stat Trick, in all situations. Not only that, but Murray is the only goalie in the top 10 who has played fewer than 10 games — he had played only 7, in fact.

You can change the GSAA from raw to per 60 minutes, you’ll see Murray and Samsonov ranked 7th and 15th in the league respectively.

If you scroll down a lot more, you’ll see Petr Mrazek ranked 69th with a -7.28, and Jack Campbell ranked 73rd in the league with a -10.74 GSAA. Campbell is actually second last, behind only Elvis Merzlikins. Other notables that I know were connected to Toronto during the offseason, either from speculation or just because Leafs fans* wanted them...

  • Darcy Kuemper, ranked 13th
  • Ville Husso, ranked 22nd
  • Anton Forsberg, ranked 39th
  • James Reimer, ranked 44th
  • Erik Källgren, ranked 47th
  • Marc-Andre Fleury, ranked 49th/

Both have been injured, but when healthy they’ve both been pretty spectacular while the Maple Leafs in front of them have been relatively UNspectacular so far this season. They may be getting into the form now, a form we more expected of them, but they really would not be in the same spot in standings without them both.

Don’t get me wrong, both acquisitions were not without risk. Samsonov had never really lived up to the hype as a former first round pick after a decent rookie season. Matt Murray had only shown flashes of his former peak with Pittsburgh, interspersed between injuries and stretches of bad play.

Dubas will still face a lot of ire if Toronto can’t get out of the first round again, but boy do things look good on the goaltending front right now. It may be their biggest strength given how meh their overall offense has been, and how decimated their defense still is. He will be accepting your apologies written on the inside of the front cover of your self-help or business management book recommendation.

* = By Leafs fans I certainly don’t mean me, and anyone who digs up any tweets or articles or comments where I said anything negative about Murray and Samsonov or wishful thinking about other goalies are liars and frauds!

Big Three score early, Murray shuts the door late, Maple Leafs beat Red Wings | by Hardev

You have to believe Matt Murray is guilty | by Katya

Pontus Holmberg has been found money for the Toronto Maple Leafs | by TLN

Leafs Notebook: Pontus Holmberg’s emergence, Rasmus Sandin stepping up, and the Leafs excelling through adversity in November | by MLHS

LeBrun: The NHL goalie carousel’s early hits, misses, surprises and flops | by The Athletic

The Colorado Avalanche signed Alex Galchenyuk, now that he’s healthy again.

This was going into last night, but it was a fun random stat I wanted to share.

Congrats to Acting the Fulemin for finally getting the recognition for his hard work and talents.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

From The Branches