Veteran goaltender Martin Jones has emerged as a surprise for the Toronto Maple Leafs, initially the team's third-string goalie behind Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll. Yet, Samsonov's struggles this season led to his having been placed on waivers, while Woll took over the duties as starter.
But thanks to an injury to Woll, Jones has been thrust into the starting role - and contrary to what most hockey fans probably thought was going to happen, he's turned back the clock and turned in some fine performances in net. He's racked up an impressive record of 7-3 with a goals against average of 2.08, a save percentage of .932 and a pair of shutouts.
Not surprisingly, he's right back between the pipes tonight at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto against his former team, the San Jose Sharks. And should his strong play continue, he'll write himself right into the Leafs record books.
According to StatsCentre on X (formerly Twitter):
"Scheduled to start tonight vs the Sharks, Martin Jones has put up a .932 save percentage through 11 games so far in 2023-24. If he can maintain that, he will join this list of superb 12 game starts to a Maple Leafs goaltender's season in the NHL Expansion Era (1967-68 to present)"
He would join the likes of Bruce Gamble, Johnny Bower, Felix Potvin, Curtis Joseph, Jonathan Bernier and Jack Campbell.
Jones has certainly turned more than a few heads with how he's performed with the Leafs this season, and he's proven that he can still be a valuable commodity in the NHL.
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