BUFFALO, N.Y. — Matt Murray looked at the scoreboard above him, counted down the seconds as they disappeared and finally pumped his fist.

It had been 638 days since Murray last felt that feeling come over him.

Bilateral hip surgery forced the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender out of the entire 2023-24 season, the final term of his four-year contract. There was no guarantee that the oft-injured Murray would play in the NHL again. A one-year contract gave him the lifeline to continue operating far out of the limelight in the AHL with just one goal.

And over a year and a half later, Murray was back where he struggled: in the NHL win column after stopping 24 shots in a 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

“A long way. A big mountain to climb. But I kept that moment in my mind on the days when it was difficult,” Murray said.

With every word he said after the game, the 30-year-old’s eyes became redder. His voice was shaking.

“A big release,” he said, struggling to find the right words to put his nearly two-year absence from the NHL into perspective. “A rush of emotions.”

The goalkeeper’s typical hugs with his teammates after the win were tighter and longer. In a physical game where a player’s career can turn in an instant, Murray’s return resonated far more than the two points the Leafs also added that day.

“It’s nice to see (Murray) smile,” Steven Lorentz said, “because you know he’s back doing what he loves.”

In the locker room, Max Domi immediately presented Murray with the team’s WWE-style wrestling belt as Player of the Game. Murray’s inconsistent performance was secondary.

“He got the thing 100 percent, he deserved it,” Domi said. “The ability to mentally persevere after all those days where I’m sure he had a lot of doubts is a long road to recovery. “We’re all super proud of him.”

It’s easy to quantify how long Murray’s journey back to the NHL took in days: 628 of them between his last two appearances.

It is much more difficult to describe exactly how difficult this journey is.

Injuries have dogged Murray throughout his career, having won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in his first two seasons in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins. From 2018 to 2022, his play declined each season. After being traded to the Leafs in the summer of 2022, he struggled through his first season. It was fair to wonder if hip surgery would be the final blow of his NHL career.

But Murray still stayed with his teammates at the Leafs’ training facility during his rehabilitation last season, feeling so close but so far away from the league he once conquered.

“The fact that he’s on his way here right now says a lot about his character and his commitment to the game,” Lorentz said.

Murray had a stand full of his equipment at this facility that was never used. An important and human gesture from the Leafs organization, but still a reminder that Murray didn’t play any NHL games.

Even after signing a one-year, $875,000 contract with the Leafs, he felt like the organization’s No. 4 goaltender. When the Leafs needed a goaltender to replace the injured Anthony Stolarz, they called up Dennis Hildeby. The lanky Hildeby is seven years younger than Murray.

How could Murray not wonder if his NHL return would ever come?

“There were definitely times when it felt really difficult,” Murray said. “But whenever I felt like that, I had a great group of people around me. That’s the only reason I’m here.”

All Murray could do was work his tail off far from the public eye and quietly hope for the return that finally came on Friday evening.

“Emotions were high today,” Murray said.

These emotions were perhaps at their highest before the game. The typically stoic Murray allowed himself to pause and appreciate how far he had come.

“I was able to take a moment during warmups and during the anthem to look around and appreciate the long journey it has been and think of all the people who helped me get here,” Murray said.

It was a game that reminded viewers of the fragility of an NHL career. Only a few years separated Murray from winning the Stanley Cup to largely retiring from the NHL, all essentially before the age of 30.

“You feel bad for a guy like that because he works so hard and wants it so badly,” Lorentz said. “We’re all rooting for him.”

Murray moved quite well on his return. He swallowed most of the 27 shots the Sabers threw at him and looked every bit the veteran he is. Murray had conceded two goals and was recalled after a video review. His long-range save on Sabers forward Alex Tuch was a reminder of the athleticism he can provide now that he’s also fully healthy.

These are all qualities that Leafs fans may have forgotten. But they are qualities that are still at the forefront of Murray’s Leafs teammates.

“I haven’t forgotten what he accomplished in his career in this league,” said Leafs forward Max Pacioretty, who is no stranger to debilitating injuries that threaten his career. “It’s hard to even begin to remember what you’ve done, what you’ve achieved, because it seems like all the noise is always in the moment, be it the injury or what’s happened recently. “

Perhaps the Leafs victory could have been predicted in advance. Sure, they were playing against a shaky Sabers team that had now lost twelve in a row. And they were worn by an up-and-coming, red-hot line consisting of Max Domi, Bobby McMann and Nick Robertson. They’re the third line in name only: The trio combined for three goals and six points against the Sabres.

But the opponent shouldn’t denigrate what was at the forefront not only for Murray, but also for the Leafs in Buffalo. They wanted to do right by a player who did everything in his power to return to the NHL. You didn’t have to squint to see a defender like Jake McCabe throwing the Sabers out of Murray’s crease with a little more vigor.

“It gives you some incentive to go the extra mile knowing that (Murray) went the extra mile just to get back to the position he’s at,” Lorentz said. “It’s not that he was half-hearted about getting back to this point and that he expected to be here. Surgeries and injuries like the one he went through can put a damper on your career for a long time. You may never be able to return to your old form.”

But Murray is working to get back to his old Matt Murray. And the Leafs’ need for Murray won’t end as they head north on the QEW back to Toronto.

Stolarz’s earliest return from a knee injury is expected to be mid to late January. Hildeby doesn’t exactly have the full confidence of the Leafs organization at the moment after allowing a few poor goals against the Sabers at home in a recent outing, combined with a less-than-stellar AHL season so far. He will likely become an NHL player down the road, but there is room for him to continue to develop and become more confident in his game.

But Murray has what no other goalie in the Leafs organization has: experience. And that’s important for Brad Treliving and Craig Berube: Both value games played and would prefer to rely on veterans if possible.

They will rely on Murray because of everything he has done and been through in his career.

After Friday night, this career looks completely different.

“The reality is you have to take each day as it comes and you never know when it will all be over,” Pacioretty said. “So you don’t want to take days for granted.”

After drying his eyes and slowly removing his sweat-soaked goalkeeping gear, Murray sat alone in the locker room. The Leafs equipment staff stopped unloading bags from the locker room to gently pat him on the shoulder.

Murray looked up and saw a note on a board in the locker room. The Leafs bus would leave in 20 minutes. There was another NHL game on the horizon.

He was able to smile again, knowing that it certainly won’t be 628 days before he can do what he loves.

(Top photo: Timothy T. Ludwig / Imagn Images)