Leafs appear to have selected starting goalie for all-important Game 3 in Florida
At this time last week, the Leafs were preparing for the most important game of their season - Game 6 in Tampa. The Buds knocked off the Lightning one week ago tonight, advancing to Round 2 for the first time in 19 years and the first time in the Matthews/Marner era. Now they're preparing for the next most important game of their season - Game 3 against the Florida Panthers.
The Panthers hold a commanding 2-0 series lead and the Leafs desperately want to avoid going down 3-0 in the series, which makes tomorrow's star all the more important. To this point, Ilya Samsonov has played every minute of the Leafs' playoff run, aside from the 3rd period of Game 1 against Tampa, when Joseph Woll drew in in relief in a runaway game.
The Buds sent down Erik Kallgren this past week, which means that the 3 goalies that they're currently carrying on the roster are Samsonov, Woll and Matt Murray, who has been quietly working his way back from a concussion, which he suffered against Detroit back at the beginning of April. As far as who will get the nod tomorrow in Florida, the Leafs appear to be going right back to Ilya Samsonov, as he was the top goalie at practice on Saturday. Samsonov played much better against Tampa than he has against Florida, but h was much better in Game 2 than he was in Game 1 of this series.
Following a frustrating Game 2 loss, in which the Leafs were absolutely caving the Panthers in all night long, Samsonov was noticeably frustrated during his post-game media availability. When asked during the media scrum about his play and that of his counterpart in Sergei Bobrovsky, the usually chipper Samsonov simply replied with "I don't give a f**k." Samsonov said that he's there to do his job and his countryman, Bobrovsky, is on the other end doing his job. Otherwise, there is no connection or comparison to be had.
To me, a pissed off goaltender is a dangerous goaltender and I'd expect a strong rebound performance from Samsonov, just as we've seen all playoffs long when he has faced adversity. Had his teammates not quit on him for the first 5 minutes of the 2nd period in Game 2, allowing some horrendous giveaways that led to goals for Florida, we're very likely looking at a 1-1 series right now heading to Florida. However, the past is the past and nothing can change the outcome of last game. Now, the focus is on Game 3, coming back strong and avenging their Game 2 loss. Hopefully Samsonov comes ready to shut the door, because we know how good Bobrovsky has been for Florida. Samsonov out-dueled Andrei Vasilevskiy in Round 1 - now he just has to find a way to do the same against Bobrovsky in Round 2.
| POLL | ||
MAI 6 | 2066 ANSWERS Leafs appear to have selected starting goalie for all-important Game 3 in Florida Are the Leafs making the right call having Samsonov start Game 3? | ||
| Yes, Sammy will rebound | 1517 | 73.4 % |
| No, they should go with Woll | 380 | 18.4 % |
| No, they should go with Murray (if healthy) | 169 | 8.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
