Leafs goaltending plans for Saturday a complete question mark after Erik Kallgren recalled on an emergency basis
Just yesterday, Ilya Samsonov was absent from Leaf practice, which caused some concern with Matt Murray already on IR. Some suggested that it was simply a maintenance day until Sheldon Keefe stated following practic that Samosonv was battling an illness. That left question marks about who would be starting tonight against Montreal.
It originally appeared as though Samsonov would be unable to play tonight as the Leafs recalled Erik Kallgren from the Marlies this morning on an emergency basis. That led reporters to believe that it meant that Joseph Woll would get his second start for the Leafs this season. His first start was against Columbus last Saturday where he played very well, but did not get any help defensively from the rest of the team.
The plot thickened when Erik Kallgren occupied the home net at practice, while Ilya Samsonov got in some work with goalie coach Curtis Sanford. Joseph Woll was not on the ice, which yet again caused some confusion as to what the plan is for tonight's game against Montreal. The belief is that since Samsonov got in some work this morning, he could potentially still play.
With Tampa is breathing down the Leafs' neck for second in the Atlantic, no matter who plays will need to provide the Buds with some quality goaltending to avoid missing out on important points in the standings. The addition of Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari should help the Leafs rack up some points down the stretch, but the hope is that Samsonov will be good to go tonight and moving forward to avoid having to hang the high hopes of the team on either Kallgren or Woll who, at this point, are both better suited for backup duty or playing a lot of games in the AHL.
