Keefe makes it very clear that Samsonov may lose the net in Toronto
After playing relatively well against the Florida Panthers, it's safe to say that Ilya Samsonov had done enough to warrant another start as he had appeared to be finding his groove. However, after allowing 3 goals on 4 shots on Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Sheldon Keefe had no reservations about pulling Samsonov whatsoever. His rationale?
Keefe seemed less than impressed with Samsonov's performance in this one, but thankfully, Joseph Woll came in and stopped all 29 shots he faced en route to a 4-3 overtime win.
Keefe revealed following the win that Woll will be right back in the net on Tuesday when the Leafs travel to Washington to take on the Capitals, and rightfully so. The Leafs' bench boss had indicated that it was the plan right from the start to have Woll play on Tuesday, but that his performance tonight left no doubt. The Leafs will stick to the plan.
Perhaps the biggest development following the 25-year-old's 29-save performance is that Keefe is considering giving him more starts moving forward. When asked after the game whether or not Woll is pushing towards taking some additional starts away from Samsonov, it was very clear that Woll does indeed have a shot to assume that 1A role in Toronto.
With the win, Woll now moves to 1-1-0 on the season, with a spectacular 1.69 GAA and sparkling .949 SV%. It would appear as though Woll's performance last season was not a fluke.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 22 | 346 ANSWERS Keefe makes it very clear that Samsonov may lose the net in Toronto Do you think the net officially belongs to Joseph Woll after Saturday's epic comeback win? | ||
| Yes | 248 | 71.7 % |
| No | 57 | 16.5 % |
| It should have belonged to Woll from the start | 41 | 11.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
