As practice got underway today, there was a notable absence in the crease. Ilya Samsonov did not take part in practice nor did he participate in any pre-practice drills with injured goaltender Matt Murray.
Samsonov has seen a very heavy workload of late, since Murray went down with an ankle injury. Sammy has played in all but 1 of the Leafs' last 11 games. He has gone 7-2-1 over his last 10 starts, with his only game off coming last Saturday against Columbus, for Joseph Woll's season debut.
We're hopeful that this was just a maintenance day for Samsonov and that he'll be on the ice for the game-day skate tomorrow morning and can start against the Montreal Canadiens tomorrow evening.
Through 27 games this season, Samsonov is 19-6-2 with 3 shutouts while posting a 2.31GAA and .918 save percentage. After the Capitals decided not to qualify Samsonov last off-season, he signed a 1-year, $1.8M "prove it" deal with the Leafs. He has certainly been proving his worth so far this season.