Leafs' Samsonov gets spicy with the media when they try to compare his body of work to Sergei Bobrovsky's
For about 55 minutes last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs were unstoppable and totally dominating the Florida Panthers up and down the ice. However, they let up off the gas for about 5 minutes in the game, including the start of the second period, and that proved to be very costly as the Panthers wrapped up a 3-2 win, stealing both home games from the Leafs to start the series 2-0.
The entire story of the game was Sergei Bobrovsky, who could quite literally do no wrong in this one, even making elite saves on 10-bell opportunities while FALLING OVER. The Leafs also hit a series of posts and crossbars, but in the end, Bobrovsky posted 35 saves on 37 shots to steal the second of back-to-back games in Toronto.
Following the game, Leafs netminder Ilya Samsonov was made available to the media to give his thoughts on the game. When asked about the performance of Bobrovsky, though, Samsonov didn't have the time of day for reporters.
I don't blame Samsonov for being upset and annoyed by the questions he faced last night. After all, he had virtually no chance on 2 of the goals he allowed, and the one he probably should have had at the start of the 2nd period came off of a brutal turnover in the neutral zone with a falling, sprawling Nylander not being able to make a play on the puck. Hockey is a team game, and there are 5 guys on the ice who have to be beaten in order to even get to the goaltender.
The Leafs now have the daunting task of flying down to Florida down 2-0 in the series to try to mount a comeback in hostile terrain. The Buds did steal 3 games in Tampa in Round 1, so here's hoping that lightning can strike at least twice more in Florida for the Leafs.
