Sheldon Keefe provides update on injured goalie Ilya Samsonov
The Toronto Maple Leafs have certainly endured more than their fair share of injury issues this season. Don't worry, Leafs Nation, as bench boss Sheldon Keefe had some good news on the injury front to share on Tuesday, relating to Ilya Samsonov. As you'll recall, Samsonov left Saturday's game against Edmonton in the third period with an unspecified injury.
After confirming with the media on Saturday that Samsonov's issue is not believed to be a serious one, Sheldon Keefe also stated that Samsonov is not expected to miss any time. However, when he was not on the ice for practice on Tuesday, it did raise a few eyebrows and had some wondering whether the injury to the Leafs netminder was worse than originally thought. Thankfully, that isn't the case.
Following practice, with Samsonov absent, Sheldon Keefe addressed the media in Toronto and confirmed that Joseph Woll would start tonight against the New Jersey Devils after a solid performance against Carolina on Sunday. He also stated that this was always the plan and implied that we shouldn't read too much into Samsonov's absence today. The expectation is that Samsonov will resume practicing with the team tomorrow, which would put him in a position to start one of the next two games on Thursday or Saturday.
With Samsonov not skating on Tuesday, it's likely that we'll once again see Martin Jones dress as the backup so that Samsonov can take some extra rest. This is probably the smart call with the playoffs looming. Having Samsonov as close to 100% as he can possibly be can only help the Leafs when the games really begin to matter.
| POLL | ||
MARS 26 | 289 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe provides update on injured goalie Ilya Samsonov Should the Leafs sit Samsonov until Saturday to avoid having him re-aggravate his injury? | ||
| Yes, don't take any chances | 236 | 81.7 % |
| No, if he's fine, let him play. We need wins | 33 | 11.4 % |
| Woll's better anyway | 20 | 6.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
