Ilya Samsonov, goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs, has had a rollercoaster ride during the 2023-24 season. The 27-year-old signed a one-year agreement after helping the team win its first postseason series in nearly 20 years. The city’s love for him, as a result, swiftly faded after a disastrous start in 2023-24.
Samsonov struggled to start the season, with a save percentage (SV%) below.900 in ten of his fifteen starts prior to the new year. He left management with few options, forcing them to throw him on waivers on January 1.
Samsonov cleared waivers and was sent to the Toronto Marlies, their American Hockey League affiliate. Rather than play games for the Marlies, Leafs management chose to have him skate and work away from the team, and the decision appeared to pay dividends. He was recalled by the Leafs a few weeks later and performed far better down the stretch. Though his 3.13 goals against average (GAA) and.890 save percentage may not appear great on paper, it was evident that he would start Game 1 of the playoffs.
Samsonov’s Struggles Have Re-Appeared
The Leafs’ postseason debut hasn’t gone as planned, with them behind 2-1 in the series after a 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins last night. Game 3 began nicely, with Matthew Knies opening the scoring just past the midway mark of the second period, giving his team plenty of momentum. That changed quickly, however, when Samsonov enabled Trent Frederic to beat him under the blocker with a low-danger opportunity.
This was an unforgivable goal to allow at any point throughout the season, let alone after your team had just grabbed the lead. This dampened the excitement in the building, and while the Leafs were able to keep the game tied heading into the interval, Jake DeBrusk gave the Bruins their first lead of the night barely a minute into the third period.
Tyler Bertuzzi was able to tie things up briefly about 10 minutes later, but any momentum was quickly lost when Samsonov was defeated by Brad Marchand just 28 seconds later. Though this goal was not as feeble as Frederic’s, it is a stop that real number-one goalies always seem to make in order to keep their team’s momentum going.
After last night’s performance, Samsonov now has a 3.05 GAA and a.895 SV% in the first three postseason games. Those numbers are insufficient to win, and based on his fairly average season stats, it’s difficult to see them improving significantly, if at all. The Leafs will not win this series if it continues, which has given head coach Sheldon Keefe some serious thought.
Given Samsonov’s troubles in Games 1 and 3, there is compelling evidence to suggest starting Joseph Woll in Game 4. Though the 25-year-old’s figures were not particularly impressive, his 2.94 GAA and.907 SV% on the season were higher than Samsonov’s. He also has playoff experience, having appeared in four postseason games last spring and performing admirably with a 2.43 GAA and.915 SV%.
Which goaltender Keefe chooses is unlikely to be revealed today, but if he goes with Samsonov, the Leafs’ best hope of winning Game 4 is to give the Bruins very little offensively. The Russian goaltender is simply incapable of producing game-changing saves, and given the strength of the Bruins’ roster, continuing to give him the net will almost certainly result in another Leafs first-round elimination.
