Ilya Samsonov clearly bothered by his recent play, shows his frustration at practice
The Leafs held one last practice in Toronto on Saturday before departing to Florida for Game 3 against the Panthers on Sunday evening. During practice, Ilya Samsonov appeared to be the top goalie taking part, so he's the projected starter for the game. However, he may be putting some added pressure on himself to give the Leafs a much-needed win over the Panthers.
Following a relatively simple goal by John Tavares, Samsonov was noticeably frustrated and showed it by smashing his stick against the goalpost. Although it may mean nothing, goalies showing frustration this way could be a sign that they're really fighting it, but it's pretty opposite to the IDGAF attitude Samsonov had following the Leafs' Game 2 loss on Thursday.
To anyone who watched the Leafs' series against the Lightning and the first two games of this series, it's not hard to confidently say Samsonov played better in round one. As this is the playoffs, it's likely he is playing through an injury of some kind. For example, before Tuesday's Game 1, Samsonov was left shaken up after taking a hit to the collarbone but still played. He was also injured at the end of the regular season. There's probably more going on than we may suspect.
That being said, the Leafs have another goalie readily available in Joseph Woll if needed tonight, and Matt Murray is also there if he is cleared by the team's medical staff and deemed healthy. So, depending on the result of Game 3, maybe we'll see a goalie switch up for the first time during the Leafs' postseason run.
