Why Erik Kallgren Will Make Back-to-Back Starts for the First Time in His NHL Career Against Canucks on Saturday
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Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters Saturday morning that Erik Kallgren start in goal, marking the first time the goaltender will start on back-to-back nights.
Erik Kallgren will make starts on back-to-back nights for the first time in his NHL career when the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Vancouver Canucks at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.
Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe explained to reporters that the goaltender “deserved it” despite giving up a questionable game-winning goal to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.
“Back-to-back is far from ideal and normally it’s when you make a goalie change, but the fact that there is no travel is different,” Keefe explained. “Kally has done a good job for us and deserves a chance to go back in.”
Kallgren is 1-2-3 this season with an .886 save percentage.
Following the Maple Leafs 4-2 loss to the Penguins, Keefe said Matt Murray would not be available to the team for Saturday, despite tracking for a return from an adductor injury.
“There’s a lot of things that our performance team tracks for players coming back from injury and they just felt a little more time would serve him well,” Keefe told reporters.
Murray has played in just one game this season, a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the season opener on Oct. 12.
The goaltender was injured during the morning skate of his scheduled start against the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 15.
Goaltender Ilya Samsonov is also unavailable to the Maple Leafs with a knee injury, but Keefe strongly hinted the goaltender could join the team for practice on Monday.
Samsonov has been Toronto’s top performer in goal this season. Signed to a one-year, $1.8 million deal in July, the Russian goaltender is 6-2-0 this season with a .921 save percentage.
With Murray and Samsonov unavailable, Keefe was left with the choice of either going with Kallgren again on Saturday or back-up goaltender Keith Petruzzelli, who was signed to an NHL-level contract on Sunday to back up Kallgren.
Petruzzelli, in effect, is Toronto’s fifth-string goaltender. Joseph Woll, who played in some games with the Leafs last season, has been out all year with a shoulder injury dating back to last season.
But with Toronto’s other goaltenders on the mend, the Maple Leafs didn’t want to trot out Petruzzelli before he was ready. And barring an injury on Saturday, it appears they won’t have to.