Leafs reveal starting goaltender for Thursday's grudge match against the Panthers
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe has made the announcement that Ilya Samsonov will be manning the crease ahead of their tilt tomorrow night against a heated division rival in the Florida Panthers. This announcement comes on the heels of a 4-1 loss suffered at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks in which Joseph Woll surrendered 3 goals in his first start of the season.
Woll admitted that he would like to have saved at least one of the breakaway goals, but Sheldon Keefe, Morgan Rielly and John Tavares rallied behind Woll, who actually played very well in the contest, which led some to believe that Woll would have landed the start on Thursday. With 5 road games coming up, Woll probably won't have to wait very long to get back in there.
After winning his arbitration case and being awarded a one-year deal with a cap hit of $3.55 million, a lot was expected from Samsonov this season, but his pre-season delivered a bit of a mixed bag and now his regular season has started off with shaky results.
After allowing 5 goals on 24 shots in their 6-5 shootout victory against the Montreal Canadiens in their season opener, he was back between the pipes the following game against Minnesota where he allowed 4 goals on 32 shots. On the season, he boasts a 4.42 G.A.A and a .839 SV% but holds a 2-0-0 record.
Samsonov has been rather frank about his performance so far, he has been working diligently with goaltending coach Curtis Sanford, and Keefe doesn't seem all too worried as he believes Samsonov will find his groove here shortly.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 18 | 93 ANSWERS Leafs reveal starting goaltender for Thursday's grudge match against the Panthers Do you agree with Sheldon Keefe's decision to start Samsonov on Thursday against the Panthers? | ||
| Yes | 72 | 77.4 % |
| No | 21 | 22.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
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