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The Toronto Maple Leafs have been able to continue to pile up points by playing excellent team defense without their top three defensemen in the lineup, but the credit for their 4-0 victory over the Dallas Stars has to be given to goalie Matt Murray, who stopped 44 shots and stood tall through seven Dallas power plays.
John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Rasmus Sandin, and Alex Kerfoot scored for Toronto, but it was Murray who kept Dallas at bay for his first shutout in Blue and White, especially at the end of the second period during a lengthy Stars five-on-three power play.
“(Matt) was perfect. He was perfect on the scoresheet. He was perfect in the game. He came up with huge saves in big moments.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “With the number of penalties we took today, it could have been a real problem for us, (but Murray) was really solid. That 5-on-3 was incredible. He was outstanding.”
Since returning from an adductor injury on November 15, Murray has gone 6-0-2 (second-best record in the NHL behind Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry), with a 2.12 GAA, and a .941 save percentage.
The Leafs once again suffered an injury on the blueline, losing Victor Mete to a lower-body injury in the first period. This forced Keefe to lean heavily on their top-four defensemen, as Justin Holl and Timothy Liljegren played close to 26 minutes, Mark Giordano and Ramsus Sandin played nearly 24 minutes, and Conor Timmins played almost 15 minutes in his Toronto debut and forced the Leafs to use their Swedish pairing on a two-man disadvantage for 1:38.
“You learn a lot about their character. The team needs them to step up in a big way.” Keefe said. “They have done exactly that. Those guys played hard today. They played a lot of minutes tired, too. We were down to five defensemen, and one is Conor (Timmins), who is playing his first game with us and is not taking on a whole lot. A lot is falling on those two guys.
We have come to expect Gio and Holl to do a really good job for us, but (Sandin and Liljegren) really stepped up for us today. They played hard. They moved the puck well. They were physical and competitive.”
The Leafs will begin a three-game homestand on Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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