Maple Leafs' Matt Murray victorious in emotional return to NHL

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Matt Murray is happy he took the advice.

Six hundred and twenty-nine days ago — prior to the double hip surgery and the humbling, arduous, potentially career-derailing rehabilitation — the two-time Stanley Cup winner was the just-another-game, stick-to-the-process type of athlete.

Narrow focus. Small picture. Next save.

Murray was stone-faced in most interviews before these 20-plus months of lifting weights and riding buses and visiting doctors.

Attempts to penetrate the big man’s feelings on his roller-coaster career or his trade history or his injury woes were always deflected away, like a puck off those gargantuan shoulder pads of his.

But on a snowy pre-Christmas Friday night in Buffalo, a city he once blocked a deal to, Murray let the feelings in.

The picture widened.

The voyage — painful and rocky and no doubt doused in doubt — culminated.

Yes, on the night he finally returned to the National Hockey League, Murray leaned into the best piece of advice he had received from the flood of well-wishers, reaching out from the Maple Leafs, Marlies, and even his boyhood hockey days.

Someone wise suggested to Murray not to focus on the first save against the Buffalo Sabres but rather to reflect on the hard hours it took him to even get into a stance to face that thing.

“The emotions were high today,” Murray said, following his 6-3 win for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“I was able to take a moment there in warmups and during the anthem and just kind of look around and appreciate the long journey that it’s been and think of all the people who helped me get here.”

As Murray then did immerse his mind into the action, the dialled-in skaters in front of him did their part to give the goalie’s comeback story a happy ending.

The Leafs snapped two goals on their first three shots, chased Buffalo starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen before the contest was half over, and built a comfy 5-2 lead for their own netminder.

Murray may not have been stellar — he allowed three goals on 27 shots and benefitted from two more apparent goals getting wiped away due to a high-sticking penalty and goalie interference — but he didn’t need to be.

The Leafs provided him with plenty of run support to go with the medical and emotional support. (And the sloppy Sabres, losers of 12 straight, have now laid a dozen eggs.)

Let’s be honest: Murray had already won before the puck dropped.

He got back.

“You have a teammate who goes through a long rehab process after a serious injury. You know, he didn’t complain once. He didn’t feel sorry for himself. He just got back to work,” Morgan Rielly said. “He’s earning the right to be in and to play and to do his thing.”

Added Auston Matthews: “The last year and a half, two years, we see him every day at the rink, rehabbing, working out. It’s been a long journey for him, and just an incredible person. So, it's awesome to see him get this one tonight, and it’s extremely well deserved.”

Once the buzzer sounded, a reception line of Leafs smothered Murray in hockey hugs and head taps. They gushed respect and appreciation.

Most of them know firsthand the nerves that come baked into that first game back from injury; most don’t know what it’s like to labour outside the show for more than a full season, to have reached the summit, tumble all the way to the base and restart the climb.

“We’re all super proud of him and really happy for him,” Max Domi said, after presenting Murray the team’s player-of-the-game belt.

“He’s won the Stanley Cup, so that’s pretty cool too. But I’m sure this feels just as good in a lot of ways. Because a lot of people, I’m sure, including himself at some points, would have counted him out and said, ‘All right, I’ve got a pretty serious injury.’ But to mentally clock in every single day for that long, it’s unbelievable. So that’s stuff that you guys as media members and the fans don’t see. But us players do. And it’s inspirational for us.”

Relieved and parched, a victorious Murray requested a bottle of water before speaking of the difficult days and the support system that pushed him through those.

“That’s the only reason why I’m here,” he said. “Getting back to the NHL was obviously in the front of my mind the whole time. It was what I was working towards, and it was a long road, but just super thankful for the opportunity to get back here and get a win tonight.”

And when that final horn blared, to ring in this new chapter?

“It was a rush of emotion. And a big release. Great to celebrate with the guys,” Murray said.

“And, you know, a lot of very kind words in the room afterwards, too. Which meant a lot.”

Fox’s Fast Five

• With Craig Berube confirming the eye test on the captain’s health — “I mean, he’s fighting through it” — how do the Maple Leafs really feel about Matthews participating in February’s 4 Nations Face-Off?

Or maybe two weeks’ rest won’t heal the mystery ailment he is managing?

Despite not looking 100 per cent, Matthews has 12 points in his 11 games played since flying back from Munich.

“He’s our leader. You never will hear anyone complain about anything, He was out of the lineup there for a while, came back and contributes every night,” Max Pacioretty says.

“He’s one of the best players in the world. Whether it’s scoring goals, setting up plays, playing well defensively, he’s a really responsible player that helps the team out in all areas — and that’s a big reason why he’s our captain.”

• In their three games together, Toronto’s new third line of Max Domi, Bobby McMann and Nick Robertson has combined for eight goals and eight assists.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Robertson says. “If you could feel like that every game, it would be great.”

Each member of the trio will ride a three-game point streak into Saturday.

“All three of them complement each other extremely well," Matthews says. "Bobby’s a workhorse. Robby obviously can shoot it. And Max is a great distributor. And I just think the three of them are really generating a lot of good offence and seem to have really good chemistry.”

• Chris Tanev is still out here flinging his body in front of PK one-timers when the team is ahead 5-2 against the worst team in the conference, eh?

• In all his years, has Berube ever had an owner enter the dressing room and address the team mid-season, the way Terry Pegula did the Sabres this week?

“I probably have at some point. I’ve been in a lot of meetings,” Berube smiled, thinking back to his days under Ed Snider’s Flyers. “I know Mr. Snider would’ve jumped in there a few times in Philly back in the day on some things, for sure. That’s just an owner that cares and wants things better and wants a team to do well. And he’s addressing the team and putting faith in them.

“Mr. Snider was hands-on every day, at the rink, practice, games, always in the room talking to guys. And, you know, he was a great owner.”

• Berube may have smiled widest talking about Rielly’s instigated scrap with Tage Thompson.

“Well, I love it,” the coach said. “We’ll kill that penalty off.”