BUFFALO, N.Y. — Matt Murray looked up at the scoreboard above his head, counted down the seconds, and finally pumped his fist.
It had been 638 days since Murray last felt that feeling.
Bilateral hip surgery will force the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender to miss the entire 2023-24 season, the final part of his four-year contract. There was no guarantee that the injury-prone Murray would play in the NHL again. The one-year contract provided a lifeline for him to continue striving for just one goal, far away from the AHL spotlight.
Now, more than a year and a half later, Murray is back where he was supposed to be, stopping 24 shots and standing in the NHL's win column in a 6-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
“It's a long road. It's a big mountain to climb, but on days when I'm having a hard time, I put this moment in the back of my mind,” Murray said.
After the match, the 30-year-old's eyes grew redder with each word. his voice trembled.
“It's a huge release,” he said, struggling to find the words to put his nearly two years away from the NHL into perspective. “Heightened emotions.”
The typical hugs between goalies and teammates after wins became tighter and longer. In a physical game in which a player's career can be determined, Murray's return carried far more weight than the two points the Leafs added on the day.
“It's nice to see (Murray) smile,” Steven Lorenz said.
In the locker room, Max Domi immediately handed Murray the team's WWE-style wrestling belt as player of the game. Murray's up-and-down performance was secondary.
“He got it 100 percent. He deserved it,” Domi said. “His ability to continue doing it mentally during those days when he had a lot of doubts goes a long way towards recovery. We're all so proud of him.”
It's easy to quantify the number of days it took Murray to return to the NHL, with his last two appearances taking 628 days.
It's much harder to describe exactly how steep that road is.
After winning back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in his first two seasons in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Murray has been plagued by injuries throughout his career. His play tapered off each season from 2018 to 2022. After being traded to the Leafs in the summer of 2022, he struggled in his first season. It was natural to wonder if the hip surgery would be the final dagger in his NHL career.
But Murray, who spent time with his teammates at the Leafs' practice facility during his rehab last season, felt so close yet so far from the league he once conquered.
“The fact that he just came back here says a lot about his character, his dedication to the game,” Lorenz said.
Murray kept a stall full of gear at the facility that was never used. While it was an important and humane gesture from the Leafs organization, it was still a reminder that Murray is not playing in an NHL game.
Even after re-signing with the Leafs on a one-year, $875,000 contract, he felt like he was the organization's No. 4 goaltender. When the Leafs needed a netminder to replace the injured Anthony Stolarz, they brought in Dennis Hildeby. The lanky Hildeby is seven years Murray's junior.
It's hard not to wonder if Murray will ever make it back to the NHL.
“There were definitely times when it felt really difficult,” Murray said. “But whenever I felt that way, I had a great group of people around me. That's the only reason I'm here.”
All Murray could do was hang up his tail far from the public eye and wait quietly for his return, which finally came Friday night.
“Emotions were high today,” Murray said.
The feeling was probably highest before the game. Typically stoic, Murray decided to stop and appreciate how far he had come.
“During our warm-ups and during the national anthem, I was able to take a moment to look around and appreciate the journey we've had and think about all the people who helped us get here,” Murray said. he said.
It was a game that reminded the audience of the fragility of an NHL career. Murray only had a few years between winning the Stanley Cup and being drastically waived by the NHL, all effectively before he turned 30.
“You feel bad for a guy like that because he works so hard and he wants it so much,” Lorenz said. “We're all rooting for him.”
Matt Murray saved 24 shots against the Sabers in a 6-3 win, his first NHL win in 638 days. (Timothy T. Ludwig/Imagn Images)
Murray moved well enough upon his return. He swallowed most of the 27 shots the Sabers threw at him and was a veteran all around. Murray scored two goals but was called back on video review. His sprawling save on Sabers forward Alex Tuch was a reminder of the athleticism he can provide now that he's also fully healthy.
Those are all qualities Leafs fans may have forgotten. But those are qualities Murray's Leafs teammates still have in mind.
“What he accomplished in this league during his career is remembered in my heart,” Leafs forward Max Pacioretty said. He is no stranger to debilitating injuries that threaten his career. “It's hard to remember much of what you've done and what you've accomplished because all the noise, whether it's an injury or something that's happened recently, always seems to be there in the moment.”
Perhaps the Leafs' victory could have been predicted in advance. Granted, they were playing a reeling Sabers team that is currently on a 12-game losing streak. They were supported by up-and-coming young players in Max Domi, Bobby McMann and Nick Robertson. They are the third line in name only. The trio combined for three goals and six points against the Sabers.
But opponents shouldn't deny what Murray had in mind, as well as the Buffalo Leafs. They wanted to do right by a player who gave his all to return to the NHL. You didn't have to squint to see a defenseman like Jake McCabe get a little fired up and throw the Sabers out of Murray's crease.
“You know that (Murray) has put in that extra effort just to get back into position, so it gives him the motivation to work even harder,” Lorenz said. “It's not like he was half-hearted in coming back this far and we expected him to be here. A surgery or an injury like the one he went through can derail a career for a long time. I might not be able to go back.”
But Murray is working on getting back to the old Matt Murray. And the Leafs' need for Murray doesn't end when they head back north to Toronto on the QEW.
The earliest Stolarz would be able to return from his knee injury would be mid-to-late January. Hildeby hasn't had a great AHL season so far after allowing a few soft goals during a recent call-up at home against the Sabres, and he doesn't have the full trust of the Leafs organization at this point. I can't say that it is. He will likely be an NHL player in the future, but there is room for him to grow and become more confident in his game.
But Murray has something no other goaltender in the Leafs organization has: experience. And that's important to Brad Treliving and Craig Berube. Both players value the games they played and are looking to rely on veterans as much as possible.
They're going to be relying on Murray, given everything he's done and been through in his career.
After Friday night, his career looks dramatically different.
“The reality is you have to take each day as it comes and you don't know when it's all going to end,” Pacioretty said. “So we don’t want you to take any number of days for granted.”
Murray sat alone in the locker room after drying his eyes and slowly removing his sweat-heavy goalie gear. The Leafs' equipment staff all stopped taking their bags out of the locker room and silently patted him on the back.
Murray looked up and saw a note written on a whiteboard in the locker room. The Leafs bus leaves in 20 minutes. Another NHL game was just around the corner.
He was able to smile again, knowing he was less than 628 days away from doing what he loved.
(Top photo: Timothy T. Ludwig / Imagn Images)
