Leafs starter for tonight's start against Philly confirmed
Following a horrendous couple of games last week in San Jose and Anaheim, it appears as though Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe is turning away from Erik Kallgren and going back to the more consistent Ilya Samsonov on Wednesday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Samsonov took part in a brief session on Wednesday morning before departing the ice early, the usual sign of a goaltender who is slated to start on game day. Samsonov is 4-2-0 in 6 starts this season, boasting a solid 2.35 GAA and .920 SV%.
Part of the rationale behind Samsonov not starting more games on the Leafs' 5-game road trip was that the 25-year-old netminder was under the weather for part of the road trip. The Leafs also wanted to try to manage his workload and to provide him with a bit of extra rest so as to not risk injury while Matt Murray is already sidelined.
For Kallgren, it may be tough to get in some starts during this next stretch, with his primary opportunity coming either Saturday in Toronto against the Boston Bruins or Sunday in Raleigh, NC against the Hurricanes. Typically, the backup goaltender is expected to get the second start in the back-to-back, but the Leafs also haven't necessarily gone the more traditional route in these circumstances - though they did go with Samsonov on the front half of their last back-to-back in LA last weekend before turning to Kallgren in Anaheim the next night.
Either way, this team needs to start stringing together some wins. Samsonov gives the Leafs a better chance to do that, so I'd imagine we'll see Samsonov draw in for 4 of the next 5 starts beginning tonight and Saturday, with Kallgren drawing Sunday's start in Carolina. Following this stretch, Samsonov should start Tuesday's game against Vegas and Friday's matchup with the Pens.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 2 | 206 ANSWERS Leafs starter for tonight's start against Philly confirmed Should the Leafs start Samsonov in 4 of the next 5 games? | ||
| Yes, we need wins. Kallgren isn't the play | 176 | 85.4 % |
| No - no need to risk injury from playing too much | 30 | 14.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
