Jones is 3-1-0 with a .907 save percentage in five appearances this season.
Jones is 3-1-0 with a .907 save percentage in five appearances this season.
COLUMBUS — Before his team took the ice for practice at Nationwide Arena on Friday, Sheldon Keefe watched from the bench with intent as several players assisted goalie coach Curtis Sanford in working on some drills with goaltenders Ilya Samsonov and Martin Jones.
Both goaltenders combined to allow nine goals in one of Toronto's worst losses of the season, a 9-3 result to the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Thursday. But there has been more of a focal point on Samsonov, who has struggled all season long to capture the confidence in the net he displayed last season when he arrived in Toronto and won the starting goaltender.
"All we really can do is support him, make sure he knows that we believe in him," Keefe told The Hockey News. "He’s played some good hockey at times this year, he just hasn’t found it consistently.
"And then after that, all you can do is take care of each day as it comes."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYH2y0lSWho[/embed]
With Joseph Woll out since Dec. 7 with a high-ankle sprain, the Leafs were hoping Samsonov was out of the mental funk in his game following a 4-0 shutout victory against the Nashville Predators.
Samsonov was all smiles again.
"Long time no see," he joked with reporters after that game.
But since that time Samsonov has struggled to feel confident in goal. By his own admission following his most recent performance, it's nothing technical.
It's all in his head.
With the holiday break around the corner, Keefe will start Jones in net when the Maple Leafs take on the Blue Jackets on Saturday. Following their worst performance of the season, Keefe will prioritize getting a better effort from the players in front of the goaltender rather than put Samsonov back in the net too early. In addition to having a few days off during the holiday break for everyone to clear their heads, there is a recognition that the Leafs don't want their Russian goaltender's struggles to have a spillover effect on the player.
"We need to give ourselves a chance to win games here. We’ve got to give our players here reasons to continue to work and do the things that we need to do to win games," Keefe said.
"Goaltending is a factor in the game as well. Not just on the scoreboard but it also impacts players mentally. So if the goalie’s going through it a little bit that’s going to trickle to the players too. You’ve got to protect them from that while we work on Sammy’s game."
The players, for their part fully understand they haven't done their fair share to help him, either.
"We didn’t go out there and help him," William Nylander admitted. "We didn’t make it easy on him. We’re there to help him through it. We know what kind of goalie he can be and we’re here to help him."
But once the Leafs return from the break, they'll have to address their goaltending. For now, all they can do is try to shore up how the team plays in front of the net.
Changes up front and on the back end
The Maple Leafs changed up their lines and defense pairs at practice on Friday by reuniting Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner while moving Nylander down to skate with Tyler Bertuzzi and John Tavares.
Keefe said it was more about re-uniting the Bertuzzi-Tavares-Nylander line that had some success earlier in the season, including the 7-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 16. when Matthews was unavailable due to the flu. Calle Jarnkrok is the latest Leaf to catch the flu bug and missed practice. His status for Saturday's game is in question. Pontus Holmberg skated as a placeholder for Jarnkrok on the wing.
Conor Timmins may be a scratch against the Jackets. Although Keefe said there are still decisions to be made on the back end, it had more to do with how well Simon Benoit and William Lagesson had played as a pairing.
"When we have defended at our best this season, those guys have been together," Keefe said.
Among Leafs defensive pairs that have skated in at least 60 minutes of 5-on-5 this season, Lagesson and Benoit ranked the highest in expected goals at 71 percent.
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