Ilya Samsonov's month-by-month trends over his career perfectly reflect his recent struggles
After a fantastic start to his Toronto Maple Leafs tenure, goaltender Ilya Samsonov has fallen back down to Earth real fast and it's somewhat troubling considering his career track record would've indicated this was on the horizon.
Prior to landing in Toronto, the former first round pick for the Washington Capitals held career save percentage numbers of a .914 SV% in the month of October, .920 SV% in November, .910 SV% in December, .908 SV% in January, .892 SV% in February, .899 SV% in March, and a .889 SV% in April.
This season as a member of the Maple Leafs, he held a .920 SV% in October, a fantastic .937 SV% in November, and then a modest .913 SV% in December. Numbers that reflect his career to a tee.
Samsonov looked primed to take over sole possession of the Leafs' record for most consecutive home victories. He entered tonight's game against the St.Louis Blues with 9 straight home wins but fell 6-5 in the shootouts after allowing 5 goals on 32 shots.
After posting back to back shutouts against the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks last month, the next 4 games he has allowed 17 goals on just 113 shots for a pedestrian .849 SV%. It could very well be an outlier after his torrid start (9-2-0 with a .939 SV%) but if his career trends are any indication, his most recent run of games are closer to his norm than his first 11 starts. Now, whether or not Curtis Sanford and the Leafs' revamped goaltending department can help him identify the problems and come up with a solution that allows for more consistency.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 4 | 204 ANSWERS Ilya Samsonov's month-by-month trends over his career perfectly reflect his recent struggles Can Samsonov steer out of his current skid or are we finally seeing his norm? | ||
| He'll be fine | 82 | 40.2 % |
| This is likely what he is | 47 | 23 % |
| Not sure, but I'm willing to give him more time | 75 | 36.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
