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3 Reasons Toronto Maple Leafs Will Win the Stanley Cup

By Stephen Nixon

Feb 21, 2023; Buffalo, New York, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares (91) celebrates his goal with teammates during the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 21, 2023; Buffalo, New York, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares (91) celebrates his goal with teammates during the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports /
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Toronto Maple Leafs, Matt Murray
Nov 19, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Matt Murray (30)  . Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 2: Goaltending

Matt Murray’s health is in-question and Ilya Samsonov is edging close towards his most games started in a season, but the Leafs should feel good about their goaltending.

The Leafs aren’t going to get goaltending as good as Andrei Vasilevskiy, but if the Coloardo Avalanche proved us anything last year, it’s that you can win a Stanley Cup without elite goaltending. Instead, you just need someone who can be steady and above-average and that’s exactly what Darcy Kuemper did last year.

Kuemper had a .902 SV% and 2.57 GAA in 16 starts last year, which was good enough to take down the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions and the Leafs can bank on their two goalies being similar.

Samsonov is the better goalie this regular season with with a .915 SV% and 2.41 GAA, but Murray’s career playoff stats (2.18 GAA and .921 SV%) would suggest that he will be the Game 1 starter when the Leafs get going in a few weeks.

It’s never fun not knowing who your Game 1 starter will be when the playoffs start, but this has worked out for many Stanley Cup champions over the past few years.

There was controversey surronding the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins Game 1 starters when they went on thier magical runs, so maybe the same thing can happen with Toronto this year.

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