Sheldon Keefe throws a 'curveball' into his lineup on Saturday.

The Toronto Maple Leafs didn't exactly get great goaltending from their goalie tandem this week during a pair of losses to the St. Louis Blues and Seattle Kraken in which they gave up a combined 11 goals. Both Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray have had better outings this season and as a result there was some question about who Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe would go to this weekend with back to back games against the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers.

Keefe may have been well aware of the interest in his starting netminder on Saturday because the head coach tossed out what Maple Leafs beat reporter David Alter described as a 'curveball' during the Maple Leafs' morning skate.

Initially it looked as though it would be veteran Matt Murray who would get the start tonight, with Murray being positioned in the starter's net, only to then have Samsonov come off the ice first.

Something may have happened during the course of the morning skate to cause the Leafs head coach to have a change of heart, but Keefe rejected that notion when he named Samsonov the starter adding that this had been his plan all along.

It would seem likely that Murray and Samsonov will continue to alternate as they did earlier in the week, with Murray likely getting the start tomorrow if Samsonov does indeed get the nod this evening.

Here is the Maple Leafs lineup for tonight's game based on today's morning skate, although given Keefe's curveball today things could be subject to change right up until the Leafs hit the ice for warmups later tonight.

Bunting-Matthews-Nylander
Jarnkrok-Tavares-Marner
Kerfoot-Kampf-Engvall
Aston Reese-Holmberg-Hunt


Rielly-Brodie
Giordano-Holl
Sandin-Liljegren

Samsonov
Murray