Leafs goaltender reveals how he feels after having to play on back-to-back nights
With just over 3 minutes left to play in the first period of last night's game, Lucas Raymond of the Detroit Red Wings lost an edge and slid into the legs of an unsuspecting Matt Murray, which sent Murray falling backward, smacking his head on the ice. He spent a few moments down on one knee and after he got back to his skates, he and the trainer agreed that he should leave the game for concussion protocol. Unfortunately, that was the end of the night for Murray as he did not return and Ilya Samsonov had to take his place after posting a shutout in Ottawa on Saturday.
Following the game, Samsonov was asked if he was playing with any soreness after playing the Leafs' previous two games to which he responded, "Not much. I play yesterday. It's not easy to play back to back games. Just maybe muscles tired little bit. More stiffness today. I skate today & do some workout before game too, but you never know what time you go to the net."
Samsonov admits that he was tired coming into the net for Murray last night, but he certainly gave the Leafs a chance, stopping 14 of 16 shots he faced, the Leafs just could not beat Alex Nedeljkovic who stopped 43 of 45 shots against. Samsonover is now 25-10-4 on the season with a 2.41 GAA and .915 save percentage and could be in line to start the majority of the Leafs' remaining 6 games if Murray is out with a concussion.
